Plymouth Pannier Market

Last updated

Plymouth Pannier Market
Pannier Market, Plymouth, Devon - November 2023.jpg
The Pannier Market from Market Avenue in 2023
Location Plymouth, Devon
Coordinates 50°22′19″N4°08′47″W / 50.37190°N 4.14651°W / 50.37190; -4.14651
Built1956-1959
ArchitectWalls & Pearn
Architectural style(s) Modernist
Festival of Britain style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated25 March 2003
Reference no.1350321
Devon UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Plymouth Pannier Market in Devon

Plymouth Pannier Market, also called Plymouth City Market, [1] is a pannier market in Plymouth, Devon. The building was designed by local architects Walls & Pearn and built in 1959 and 1960. The market was granted Grade II listed status in 2003, [2] and is seen as one of Plymouth's most innovative and important post-war buildings. [3] [4] : 18  It gets over a million visitors per year, making it one of the most visited markets in the country. [5]

Contents

Background

The Prior of Plympton was first granted a charter to hold markets in Sutton (the ancient name of Plymouth) in 1253. [6] : 15  A market building was constructed in 1805 on an "almost unrivalled" site though according to Plymouth architect James Hine, the building itself was "not worthy of a great and civilized community like Plymouth". [6] : 47  It was rebuilt in 1853 and modified again in 1891. [7]

Although Historic England says that the original market was bombed in 1941, [2] Elain Harwood and documents from Plymouth City Council say it survived. [4] : 9  [7] Harwood writes that the old market closed on 5 September 1959 with a firework display. [7]

History

The project lasted between 1956 and 1959, [8] : 30  and its 1959 opening by Lord Mayor Percival Washbourn signalled the completion of the city centre's redevelopment. [7] [9]

In March 2003, the market was listed at grade II by Historic England, noted for "the quality of its interior and technical ingenuity on a large scale". [2]

The market underwent a £3.2 million refurbishment from September 2016 to September 2017, with stalls remaining open for the duration of the works. [5] The refurbishment included restoring the roof, which had deteriorated due to leaks and build-up of guano from seagulls. [10] The completion of works was celebrated with a 'Grand Day Out' event. [11]

Plymouth's strategic masterplan, released in 2017, proposes the market become the focal point of a new 'Market Quarter' within a new market square. [1] : 14 

Design

Plymouth's city architect Hector J.W. Stirling was meant to design the market along with a conference centre and an exhibition hall but the level of work meant the market project was outsourced to a local firm. [7] It was instead designed by H.F. Walls and C.H.P. (Paul) Pearn with Ken Bingham being the project architect. [7]

The market has a 40 feet (12 m) high ceiling with seven concrete frames that span 150 feet (46 m). [8] : 32  Walls and Pearn worked with Albin Chronowicz, a celebrated structural engineer, [12] to create the building's concrete shell. [8] : 30  The roof also had vaults containing north-facing rooflights, [8] : 32–33  which give the interior an even, natural light. [7] Cantilevered flights of stairs at either end of the market lead up to a gallery cafe. [7]

The porches at the main entrances are decorated with murals by sculptor David Weeks. [8] : 32  [12]

The building has been described as modernist, [3] Festival of Britain-style, [4] : 13  [12] and a rejection of classical composition. [8] : 30  It was awarded a Civic Trust Award in 1960. [13]

Alex de Rijke proposed that the market could be used more effectively by the introduction of a mezzanine, creating a balcony level which could be used by cafes and bars. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth</span> City and unitary authority in England

Plymouth is a port city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately 36 miles (58 km) southwest of Exeter and 193 miles (311 km) southwest of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and southwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnstaple</span> Town in Devon, England

Barnstaple is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from which it earned great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but its harbour silted up and other trades developed such as shipbuilding, foundries and sawmills. A Victorian market building survives, with a high glass and timber roof on iron columns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tavistock</span> Town in Devon, England

Tavistock is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards had a population of 13,028. It traces its recorded history back to at least 961 when Tavistock Abbey, whose ruins lie in the centre of the town, was founded. Its most famous son is Sir Francis Drake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiverton, Devon</span> Town in Devon, England

Tiverton is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587.

The year 1959 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

The year 1966 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss Cottage Library</span> Library in Camden, London

Swiss Cottage Library is a public library in the London Borough of Camden housed in an architectural landmark building on Avenue Road. Designed by Sir Basil Spence of Spence, Bonnington & Collins, it was built between 1963 and 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald McMorran</span>

Donald Hanks McMorran RA FRIBA FSA was an English architect who is known today for his sensitive continuation of the neo-Georgian and classical tradition in the period after the Second World War. His buildings include halls of residence at the University of Nottingham, Wood Street Police Station in the City of London, public housing schemes around London, the South Block extension to the Old Bailey and civic buildings in Exeter and Bury St Edmunds.

Chamberlin, Powell and Bon was a British firm of architects. They are best known for having designed the Barbican Estate in central London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Twentieth Century Society</span>

The Twentieth Century Society, founded in 1979 as The Thirties Society, is a British charity that campaigns for the preservation of architectural heritage from 1914 onwards. It is formally recognised as one of the National Amenity Societies, and as such is a statutory consultee on alterations to listed buildings within its period of interest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wythenshawe Bus Garage</span>

Wythenshawe Bus Garage is a Grade II* listed building in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alton Estate</span> Housing estate in Roehampton, London

The Alton Estate is a large council estate situated in Roehampton, southwest London. One of the largest council estates in the UK, it occupies an extensive area of land west of Roehampton village and runs between the Roehampton Lane through-road and Richmond Park Golf Courses.

Morris and Steedman was an architecture firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The firm was founded by James Shepherd Morris (1931–2006) and Robert Russell Steedman in the 1950s. The pair are best known for their private houses in the modernist style, built during the 1950s and 1960s, described as "arguably the most important series of 20th century houses by a single practice in Scotland". Both founders retired in 2002, although their practice continues as Morris and Steedman Associates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elain Harwood</span> British architectural historian (1958–2023)

Elain Harwood Hon.FRIBA was a British architectural historian with Historic England and a specialist in post–Second World War English architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth Civic Centre</span> Municipal building in Plymouth, Devon, England

Plymouth Civic Centre is the former headquarters of Plymouth City Council on Armada Way in Plymouth, Devon, England. The building is in two sections, comprising a 14-storey tower block which housed the council's offices, and a two-storey southern wing called the Council House which includes the council chamber and is linked to the tower block by a bridge at first floor level. The building was completed in 1962. The council sold the tower block part of the building in 2015, but the Council House remains the council's meeting place. The whole complex has been a Grade II listed building since 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guildhall, Barnstaple</span> Guildhall in Devon, England

The Guildhall in Barnstaple in Devon in the United Kingdom is the Guildhall for the town and was completed in 1828, replacing an earlier Guildhall. Beneath and behind the Guildhall is the Pannier Market; completed in 1855, the building has been a Grade II* listed building since 19 January 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pannier Market, Bideford</span> Historic market in North Devon, England

The Pannier Market in Bideford in North Devon is a large covered Victorian pannier market together with the Butcher's Row of small artisan stalls running along the lower level of the Market. There has been a market on the site since 1675. Since 1989 it has been a Grade II listed building on the register of Historic England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pannier Market, Torrington</span>

The Pannier Market in Great Torrington in Devon is a Victorian pannier market of 12 small indoor shops - six either side of a narrow cobbled lane built in 1842 and restored in 1999. The Market House building at the front of the complex has been a Grade II* listed building on the Historic England Register since 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appleby Lodge</span> Blocks of flats in Manchester, England

Appleby Lodge is a set of three-storey 1930s blocks of flats with eight entrance doors, opposite Platt Fields Park on Wilmslow Road in Rusholme, Manchester, England. The blocks are in a U-shape around a central garden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danum House</span>

Danum House is a commercial building in Doncaster, in England.

References

  1. 1 2 "PLYMOUTH CITY CENTRE STRATEGIC MASTERPLAN" (PDF). Plymouth City Council . February 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "PANNIER MARKET". Historic England . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Urban Trawl: Plymouth" . Building Design . 24 June 2011. p. 18. ProQuest   873723127 . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "PLYMOUTH CITY CENTRE CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL AND MANAGEMENT PLAN" (PDF). Plymouth City Council . March 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Plymouth City Market". Ryearch. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  6. 1 2 James Hine (1861). "The Old Buildings of Plymouth". Annual Report and Transactions of the Plymouth Institution and Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society: 13–48. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Elain Harwood (2021). Mid-Century Britain: Modern Architecture 1938-1963 . Pavilion Books. p. 216. ProQuest   2619257081 . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jeremy Gould. "Plymouth: Vision of a modern city". Historic England . English Heritage . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Plymouth's Pannier Market". British Film Institute . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "Heritage market building gets the AH -25 treatment to restore civil pride" (PDF). SIG . Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  11. ↑ Jon Bayley (27 September 2017). "Glorious old pictures of Plymouth's Pannier Market, which was completed 58 years ago". Plymouth Live. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 Nick Coleman (21 February 2010). "Plymouth...a pearl on the seashore". The Independent . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  13. ↑ Aileen Tatton-Brown (16 August 1961). "Civic design in 1960" . Architects' Journal . 134 (7): 218. ProQuest   1617814079 . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  14. ↑ "Art of making public spaces". Building Design . No. 1328. 7 November 1997. p. 12.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.