The Music Hall in Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, is a large Victorian

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 building owned by Shropshire Council

Shropshire Council

Shropshire Council is a unitary authority in Shropshire, United Kingdom.It replaced the former two-tier local government structure in the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire on 1 April 2009, which involved its immediate predecessor, Shropshire County Council, and five non-metropolitan districts -...

 and currently houses the town's theatre and central Visitor Information Centre, as well as a cafe and some council offices.

It is located on The Square in Shrewsbury town centre. In front of it is the Old Market Hall, now used as the borough council's cinema which was formerly housed within the Music Hall itself.

The site was once the location of the town's fire service and the passage which runs through The Music Hall and out onto Swan Hill is called Fire Office Passage. A sign mentioning this is to be found on the right hand side as one enters the music hall from The Square. To the rear of the music hall is Vaughan's Mansion, a substantially intact 13th century stone and timber framed hall-house formerly owned by one of the town's most important families but largely obscured my later additions. The building also includes a basement that was intended for use as a nuclear fallout shelter

Fallout shelter

A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designed to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War....

 and a number of Police 'holding' cells where prisoners were held whilst attending the court that used to sit in the Old Market Hall in the Square. It is rumoured that an underground passage exists linking the two sites and was directly connected to the dock in the court room?

The borough council are currently building a new theatre and entertainment venue in Frankwell

Frankwell

Frankwell is a district of the town of Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, England. It lies adjacent to the River Severn, to the northwest of the town centre, and is one of Shrewsbury's oldest suburbs....

, named 'Theatre Severn', about a mile from The Music Hall which is due to open in March 2009. The theatre will therefore move to this new complex at the beginning of January 2009. Following the move, The Music Hall will likely be used as the town's main museum, retaining the cafe and Visitor Information Centre. Currently the museum is located in Rowley's House, on Barker Street.

The Music Hall had it last performance on 4 January 2009.

External links

• Shrewsbury music hall - official site
• Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council