Kidderminster Town Hall and Corn Exchange.

 

Though, as noted elsewhere, the 1850s were a time of significant challenge for the town and the carpet industry, there was also a mood for town improvement and for providing of facilities appropriate to its ambition. This saw the development of Public Rooms and a Corn Exchange which was undertaken as a private investment in 1853 – with Lord Ward a principal investor. The site on Vicar Street had been the location of the Vicarage.

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The buildings designed by Bidlake and Lovel opened in January 1855. A music festival later that year celebrated the installation of the organ made by William Hill and Sons – the town retains a town organist.

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The Public Rooms and Corn Exchange were later taken over by the Kidderminster Corporation in 1875 and were then incorporated into a new Town Hall designed by J T Meredith which replaced the Guildhall in 1876. This remained the seat of local government until the Borough disappeared with local government reorganisation in 1974 but has been the home of the new Kidderminster Town Council since 2016.