Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporter.
Dorchester’s ‘money pit’ Corn Exchange is about to cost more with a fresh round of repairs needed to the important listed public building.
Since 2023/24 around £3million has been spent securing and improving the building – the county town’s main performance venue and home to the first floor Town Hall and town council chamber.
Recent changes include a new internal layout with a better bar and toilets and a new café/bar at the front of the building. The whole structure has also been extensively re-roofed.
The town centre complex, owned by the Town Council and managed by Dorchester Arts, now needs repairs to the lead-covered clocktower spire, decaying rafters, stonework, the clock mechanism, clock dial and bells and the bell fastenings.
The bells have been silent for some time after it was feared that to continue striking them could end in disaster with the fixings found to be unsound during a 2024 inspection. They were fitted to the newly erected clock tower, known as Galpin’s folly in 1864 – so called because people at the time thought it would not last long, the structure partly-funded by the then mayor of the town, William Galpin. The tower with its clock was an addition to the main building which was completed in 1848.
Winter weather has already seen some small fragments of stone fall from the tower onto the pavement below in recent years.
Extensive previous works saw the building covered in scaffolding for around six months and closed to the public for much of the latter-half of 2024, into 2025.
When planning consent was approved for those works architects Crickmay Stark, described the front of the building as “tired” and no longer fulfilling the needs and requirements of Dorchester Arts.
Most in the town believe the changes were a success and the building is now more user-friendly than it used to be – providing the town’s main venue for a range of performances and other community events including the annual Beerex, one of the Literary Festival venues and often also used for Thomas Hardy festival events.
Dorchester Town Council is unable to say how much the latest works will cost until it goes out to tender for the project which is expected to take four to five months to complete, depending on the weather. The repairs may involve the loss of some Town Hall bookings because the public hall on the first floor area will be used to achieve access to the tower, with external scaffolding also likely to have to be put in place, potentially narrowing the already slender entrance to North Square from High East Street.
The town council has never stated how much the 2024/25 roof repairs and internal changes cost but the building remains the town council’s biggest single expenditure item, after staffing costs, with around a third of a million pounds set aside in running costs for the building in the current financial year.
Said architects Crickmay Stark, acting for the town council: “Overall, the proposals represent a carefully considered programme of conservation-led repairs that will secure the long-term preservation of one of Dorchester’s most important civic buildings. By repairing rather than replacing historic fabric, retaining significant architectural features and employing traditional materials and techniques throughout, the proposals will preserve the special architectural and historic interest of the Grade II* listed building and sustain its contribution to the character and appearance of the Dorchester Conservation Area.”
Key facts:
- Building: Municipal Buildings / Corn Exchange, Dorchester.
- Architect: Benjamin Ferrey.
- Built: 1847-48.
- Clock tower added: 1864.
- 2024-25 refurbishment value: approximately £750,000.
- Main works: new bar, café, toilets, foyer, community space, accessibility improvements and Town Hall alterations.
- Earlier improvement programme: approximately £2.25 million, mainly on works to the roof.
- Capacity: up to 156 seated or approximately 275-300 standing.
“Galpin’s Folly”: nickname for the 1864 clock turret, arising from fears that Mayor Galpin’s slender tower design might fall down.
