The Foundation Stone

Downham Market Town Hall 


Downham Market Town Hall, raising the flag for armed services day
Placed between the market place and the town square, the Town Hall may be overlooked as a great community building. It ties with the community go beyond this multi-roomed venue being used for entertainment, civic and community events and even surgeries for the local Member of Parliament. The Town Hall was funded by capital raised through public subscription from people of the community from all walks of life and was erected as a memento of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, and completed in 1888









The Foundation Stone 

The badly weathered foundation stone
Laid in 1887, 130 years ago the foundation stone celebrates the building of this civic building, and bears the names of William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, the MP of the area at when the Town Hall was built, George Flower Wood who was chairman of the Town Hall Company, J. Johnson the architect and the Bennett brothers who built the building. 

 As you can see in the photograph the foundation stone has been badly weathered with the names being eroded from the stone. The Town Hall Committee hopes to install the an engraved stone plaque in the pillar above the foundation stone facing the town square. And in the spirit of the buildings original funding, the community is again being asked to help fund the plaque, whether big or small and no matter your walk of life all donations are gratefully accepted to help remember the names that built one of the iconic buildings of Downham Market.

 For more details see the news article http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/legacy-of-historic-downham-market-town-hall-foundation-stone-to-be-preserved-1-8055429

 Donations can be made payable to Downham Market Town Council and endorsed with Town Hall Foundation Stone. These can be sent or delivered to the Town Council Offices located at 15 Paradise Road, Downham Market, PE38 9HS

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