THE town seems to have been waiting forever, but this Saturday Tavistock’s Guildhall will officially open its doors to the public in time for Christmas.

It has taken seven years since Tavistock Town Council acquired what was a run-down and practically unoccupied listed building to complete its transformation, which is hoped will become the focal point of the town.

But the end result of years of hard work by the town council and Tavistock Heritage Trust, one of the leading partners in the project, could prove a vital element in the town’s efforts to recover from the economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Described as a gem in the heart of Tavistock, the revamped building will create a ‘gateway’ centre for information about the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site (WHS). Thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Tavistock Town Council and many other generous donors, the new visitor attraction will also tell the story of Tavistock’s mining past and of the building itself as one of England’s first purpose-built combined court and police stations.

The pandemic slowed the progress of work on the project to the extent that while it was hoped it would open in time for the summer’s tourist influx following the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions to add yet more footfall to the town, its unveiling was put back for at least six months.

However, Dr Geri Parlby, chair of the heritage trust which will be bringing to life Tavistock’s historical past in the Guildhall, has made it clear the its aim is not just to attract tourists into the town.

She said: ‘The point we want to make is that this is a facility for the people of Tavistock, so they can fully understand the town’s past. In effect, the Guildhall will become very much the centre of the town and we hope people who live here will visit it and enjoy it.’

The centre will tell the story of Tavistock as the eastern gateway to the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors will discover how mining transformed Tavistock in the 19th century, and learn about the industrial landscape of the region and what it means to be a World Heritage Site town.

They, thanks to a late funding boost from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Kickstart grant scheme, and a hefty donation from West Devon Borough Council towards an audio-visual system, will be able to hear the stories of the men and women who worked and lived in the region, along with their carefully-researched regional accents, understand the far-reaching influence of the Earls and Dukes of Bedford on the town and surrounding area and learn about the 7th Duke’s role in bringing law and order to Tavistock by commissioning the Guildhall in 1848, a building which also housed the town’s fire engine house.

The Guildhall became a pioneer in the development of the modern police and justice system, and the preserved Victorian cells and imposing tiered courtroom, conserved to its former glory, will showcase moments from a sometimes chequered history of the town.

The centre will also be the venue for a variety of cultural and community events throughout the year ranging from talks, courses, exhibitions, concerts and performances as well as being home to the town’s enlarged Visitor Information Centre.

At present, visitors are being asked to book in advance to see the £1.9-million visitor attraction, but it is expected that by next year people will be able to drop in when they like during the centre’s opening hours.

The imposing neo gothic edifice has formed the centre point of the town for the past 173 years. In the early decades of the 19th century both the newly appointed chief of police in Tavistock and the local magistrates were sharing a dilapidated 300-year-old guild building situated where the Town Hall stands today.

In 1845, the exasperated Clerk to the Justices, Robert Luxton, told a Parliamentary enquiry that the old Guildhall was ‘in a very dilapidated state’ and that ‘the magistrates can scarcely deliberate upon a case without being heard by some of the spectators.’

The custodian of the town, Francis Russell, the 7th Duke of Bedford, took a hand and set aside £4,000 to fund a new Guildhall which would combine a police station and courtroom.

He located it a few yards away from the old Guildhall where his father the 6th Duke, John Russell, had already instigated some improvements.

John had a penchant for gothic architecture and was especially attached to the ruins of Tavistock Abbey.

In the 1820s he employed the Plymouth architect John Foulston to restore the area of the town which had once formed part of the Great Court and Court Gate of the old Abbey.

However, Foulston only completed part of the work, renovating Court Gate, building the new Subscription Library and cottage and also renovating the building known as Trowte’s House, which once served as a guest house for the Abbey and, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, became home to a local clothier called John Trowte.

In 1843, Theophilus Jones, architect/surveyor to the Bedford Estate, was instructed by 7th Duke of Bedford to start work on the Guildhall by adapting Foulston’s initial designs. Work finally finished on the new Guildhall in September 1848.

The North Devon Journal in October 1848 gives a detailed description of the building. It says:

‘The new Guildhall here, which has been built by his Grace the Duke of Bedford at a cost of £4000, was opened last week for the use of the inhabitants.

It was built in the Gothic style near the public library and is said to be one of the finest Guildhalls in the county… His Grace’s resident architect, Mr Jones, prepared a design for extending the building in character with the old portion of the Abbey, which is of the castellated early English type… It is quite an ornament in the town. On the entrance from the Plymouth new road, the whole is seen to perfection. The only drawback is the old walls of the cattle market, which the Duke has been pleased to say shall be removed as soon as a suitable place can be selected for a new one, and the necessary arrangements made for the removal.

‘The hall is 53 foot long and 23 broad and contains comfortable sittings for about 200 persons and might accommodate, including standing room, about 500. The room is admirably laid out with separate seats, having convenient entrances on each side for the magistrates, the clerks, attorneys, jury, and witnesses; and the prisoner’s dock is connected with the flight of stairs leading to the lock-up cells beneath. At the end of the hall is a niche immediately over the bench, the Royal Arms, the Prince of Wales’s arms and those of the Bedford family, which were in the old Guildhall, having been restored in a very superior manner, have been placed; and beneath is a carved and gilded figure of justice – a very appropriate ornament for the court. The police station underneath the hall consists of a residence for the inspector, and six cells of various dimensions, two of them having beds. The cells as well as the hall are admirably fitted up with a superior hot water heating apparatus; and due care has been taken that the whole be properly ventilated on the most approved principle the ventilation can be regulated by valves at pleasure. The hall as well as the police station is lighted with gas, and the pillars, which are cast for the occasion, are in character with and resemble the granite pillars of the building.”

Following the original cells flooding in 1890 two new ‘modern’ cells were also completed and for the next century the Guildhall continued as the centre of policing and justice in the town.

The building transferred to the ownership of Devon County Police in the early 20th century. It was sold to Devon County Council 1912/13. It started to fall into disuse in the 1990s, with the courtroom closing in 1997 and the police station relocating in 2012.

Tavistock Town Council bought the Grade II* building in 2014 to rescue it from further decline and to bring it back into public use. Thanks to generous funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, West Devon Borough Council, Devon County Council and other organisations, it will finally be reopening its doors and beginning an exciting new era.

Tavistock mayor Andy Hutton said: ‘The Guildhall has been a magnificent project bringing together the Tavistock Town Council and the Town’s heritage enthusiasts to create a wonderful attraction together with renovating a historic building in the centre of our town; itself a World Heritage Site. The whole project will help enrich the area for towns people and visitors for years to come and every organisation and individual involved in its creation should be justifiably proud of what they have achieved.’

Further information on Guildhall events can be found on www.tavistockguildhall.org or www.heritageintavistock.org