The Restoration of The Market Hall's Assembly Room.
by Paul Gregson
The Market Hall (House) is as the name suggests, the one time home for the weekly markets held in Hawkshead, Cumbria. (Hawkshead was, until the invention /creation of the county of Cumbria in 1975, in the Palatine county of Lancashire.)
Built in 1787 the ground floor was originally a covered meat market. The first floor had in it's centre The Assembly Room, and on each end a dwelling.
In 1887 the western dwelling was removed, and the Assembly Room extended westward. Various other alterations were made, to the building, including filling the ground floor arches with windows to create a lower hall. The last "restoration" of the Assembly Room was in 1961, and by the year 2000 this room had become "dated".
In 2013 the Assembly Room was once again restored and improved. New lighting, furnishings, etc, all made for a more pleasing function room.
These pictures show the progress made.
