Tamworth Assembly Rooms

The Tamworth Assembly Rooms building was built in 1889 and is owned by Tamworth Borough Council. The Assembly Rooms is used by amateur organisations and for public meetings and local events as well as professional touring. The main elevation of the building (facing Corporation Street) indicates two main levels and a third attic level set within the gable. It is mainly constructed of red brick with painted white stone dressings. It is designed in an ‘Italianate Renaissance’ style and incorporates features such as pilasters and cornices projecting from the building. It consists of a large central bay flanked by single bays on either side. The main entrance is via three double doors in the centre of the main block on the ground floor with a number of steps down to the footpath, though these doors are not currently used. Above the doors are three tall windows with semicircular arches and above these are three smaller square headed windows set within the gable. The segmental pediment at the apex of the gable contains a carving of the Borough’s original Coat of Arms and the Roman numerals: A.D. MDCCCLXXXIX (1889). The building has a steeply pitched slate roof. To the south side is a single storey section with a further set of double doors providing access to a single storey corridor that runs along the south side of the main auditorium. This was part of the original building and is currently used as the main public entrance. A set back single storey supper room was added to the south side in the early 1900s, with further extensions, most recently in 2005, bringing the front elevation of the extension in line with the main building. The supper room is now a bar. The side and rear elevation are in matching red brick. The north and south elevations feature a row of seven windows at the second floor level looking into the main hall, each having semi-circular arches. All are bricked up on the inside. The full height section of the building narrows at the rear where it contains the stage and single storey lean-to sections containing the back-of-house rooms backing up against the three sides of this section. There is no fly tower. The ‘openness’ of the building’s setting being surrounded by car parks on three sides means that these elevations are very visible from the public domain. The original main foyer contains stairs to the balcony and a large box office. The main floor of the auditorium is flat. Seating is provided in the form of individual seats that can be stacked away. A retractable bleacher unit was installed in 2002, with 8 tiers of seating, which sits at the rear of the hall in front of the balcony. It can be folded and stored in two cupboards at the rear of the hall. The balcony sits above the foyer and consists of four rows of tiered seats. There is also a sound and lighting control box on the right side of the balcony above the stairs. The roof of the hall is open, a double height barrel vaulted ceiling of pitch pine with six pairs of elliptical ribs. The proscenium opening is flanked by columns from which springs a flattened arch, approximately 22 feet high at the centre. There is a prominent key block. A deep valance reduces the proscenium height to approximately fifteen feet. There is no stage grid as such although a number of pulleys are fixed to the ceiling approximately 25 feet above the stage. The stage floor is raised 3 feet 6 inches from the hall floor with a fixed forestage that extents to the sides of the hall. Performances requiring an orchestra have to sacrifice the front rows of seats. A door in the rear stage wall leads to the dressing rooms. There is one set of emergency exit doors at the front of the hall on the left side of the stage side and two sets of double doors on the right side of the hall giving access to the side corridor linking the entrance, bar and back of house facilities. The back of house area consists of two rooms either side of the stage and a long room behind the stage divided into cubicle style change rooms and two bathrooms. However, the room to stage right can only be accessed from the stage, restricting how it is used in performances. There is also no blackout room, so back of house lights can be seen from some seats. There is limited direct access to the back of house rooms from outside the building and sets, props and actors need to enter via the public parts of the building. A basement is below the stage and dressing rooms and once contained the hall’s bar. It is now used for storage, as a green room and as an office for Council staff. A small staircase has been installed to join the basement to the room at stage left. On the south side of the main hall corridor within the original supper room is the bar and a small kitchen, and the bathrooms are in the most recent extension between the bar and the street. The disabled access is also in this area.