The municipal buildings on Ridgeway Street in Douglas are late Victorian Neo-Baroque.
'Baroque architecture developed in the late sixteenth century in Italy but rapidly became associated with Catholicism and was largely abandoned in Protestant countries.
By the Late Victorian period, however, the style had returned to favour an continued into the brief Edwardian period (regnal dates 1901-1910) and for a while thereafter. This Neo-Baroque was widely used in Britain for secular buildings, especially town halls, libraries and other major public buildings...The British version of the style drew on the Italian mainstream...'as here in the Municipal Buildings in Douglas.’
‘This is a sophisticated building mixes the Neo-Baroque with Elizabethan and Flemish styles in manner that was fashionable during the late nineteenth century. The treatment of the central gable is decidedly Flemish, whilst the bay windows on the side street are more Elizabethan (but without the very small window panes associated with this style. Some of the material are imported – cream Bath sandstone for quoins, window surrounds, sculptured element, cornice and parapet, with roughly-course local stone for the rest of the façade apart from two areas in red brick on one gable and in the clock panel.’
Source: ‘An introduction to the architecture of the Isle of Man’ by Patricia Tutt (ISBN: 978-1-907945-10-6)
In 1896 the Municipal Borough of Douglas came into being and the town hall building, was begun in 1897, it was officially opened on May 10th, 1900, by the mayor of the time, Alderman Samuel Webb.
"The main building contractor was Messrs Gradwell and Co. of Barrow in Furness. The style adopted was Renaissance" with the aim being to combine lasting strength with lightness and elegance. Dressed rubble stone was used with Bath stone dressed openings"
At the heart of the town hall is the council chamber – 47ft long and 33ft wide, with an arched and panelled ceiling by Warings of London – where the Council meets in public once a month, excluding September.
Public council meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month (excluding September) beginning at 14:30. The chamber is located on the first floor to which there is lift access.
The Town Hall also features:
• The Mayor's parlour
• The committee room
• Interview rooms
• Town hall reception counter
• Housing counter (entrance on John Street)
• Environment & Regeneration department
• Finance department
Douglas (Manx Gaelic: Doolish) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 27,938 (2011). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and on a sweeping bay of two miles. The River Douglas forms part of the town's harbour and is the main commercial port.
Douglas was a small settlement until it grew rapidly as a result of links with the English port of Liverpool in the 18th century.
Further population growth came in the following century, resulting during the 1860s in a staged transfer of the High Courts, the Lieutenant Governor's residence, and finally the seat of the legislature, Tynwald, to Douglas from the ancient capital, Castletown.
The town is the Island's main hub for business, finance, legal services, shipping, transport, shopping, and entertainment. The annual Isle of Man TT & Manx GP motorcycle races start and finish in Douglas.
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