Cornwall’s grandest buildings seems doomed to remain empty

The imposing Old County Hall on Station Road, Truro, was the headquarters for Cornwall County Council between 1912 and 1966, when the council moved to its new offices – New County Hall / Lys Kernow – just up the hill on Treyew Road.

Old County Hall continued to be partially used by the Cornwall Record Office while in 2012 it was purchased by a local hotelier with dreams of turning it into a boutique hotel and spa destination in the city.

Since then the two-acre site has been bought again and has been the subject of a number of planning applications and permissions, but still it lies dormant.

The latest estate agent to take it on is Miller Commercial, which is marketing the building for offers over £2.6m. The Grade II listed Old County Hall was previously on sale for £3m last summer through property consultants Alder King.

Attempts have been made to redevelop Old County Hall over the past 12 years but still the 100-year-old building remains empty (Image: Lee Trewhela / LDRS)

Miller Commercial’s sales blurb reads: “The property is arranged over ground and first floors with the useful inclusion of a small basement. The property was constructed during 1910-1912 as local government offices to include a council chamber. There is a carriage driveway to the front and additional land at the rear which has been used for car parking and has potential for further development.

“The site sits on a generous plot which slopes gently from south to north. Due to the position of the premises it has commanding views over the local area and to the countryside beyond. The building retains much of its original charm and period features including an open stairwell with heavy turned balusters, parquet flooring in part and vaulted ceilings to corridors. Externally the stonework has been cleaned and some works undertaken.”

In August of last year plans were approved by Cornwall Council on behalf of applicant Peter Woods, of OCH Residential Truro Limited, to convert Old County Hall into student accommodation in 17 “cluster units”, which would be offered to students under the management of Falmouth Exeter Plus (FXPlus), the organisation which manages and delivers services at Penryn, Falmouth and Truro campuses. There would also be amenity space and parking for 18 cars. There has been no sign of any of this development happening since.

Following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established councils in every county, it became necessary to find a meeting place for Cornwall County Council. The council chose to meet in Truro rather than Bodmin’s Shire Hall, which had been used as the venue for the county’s main court.

Cornwall County Council meetings were initially held at the Municipal Buildings in Truro, but council leaders decided there should be a purpose-built county hall. Fields near the city’s railway station were purchased and County Hall – which gained the Old prefix when the council moved to its new Brutalist-style building – was built between 1910 and 1912 to a Neo-Georgian design by Thomas Ball Silcock.

The building continued to be used by the Cornwall Record Office until its relocation to Kresen Kernow, Redruth, in 2019. Old County Hall was bought from Cornwall Council by Nigel Carpenter, owner of St Michael’s Hotel & Spa in Falmouth, in 2012 for £1.2 million.

Planning permission was granted in April 2013 to convert it into a 42-bedroom boutique hotel and spa at an estimated cost of £10 million. However, Mr Carpenter then placed the property on the market for £3 million in 2015.

Old County Hall was later snapped up by newly-established developers Wolf Rock Cornwall Ltd for an undisclosed sum. The latest sale will be the fifth in just over a decade.