County Hall
Modern architecture for the county
By Daphne Knott
This is probably a building that is well known from ground level, but this picture gives a very different viewpoint. How well do you know County Hall? Have you worked in the building, or maybe just visited for business?
The photograph is part of the Aerofilms collection now held by English Heritage. Aerofilms, founded in 1919 by two World War I veterans, F.L. Wills and C. Grahame-White, took aerial photographs of towns and villages all over the British Isles.
The collection of photograph albums and negatives is now held by English Heritage, who are hoping to set up a project to catalogue these photographs in detail.
Your help is needed! Please add a comment, or perhaps a whole new article to tell us about your memories and experiences of County Hall.
For the original of the image, see https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW000043
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As a child I lived opposite County Hall, in Highfield Road. We thought of it as an extension of our garden, and my brother and I used to love roller skating under the arches (much to the annoyance of the other local residents – we made a lot of noise)! My father worked in the Education Department until he retired, and I was married in the Registry Office in December 1987. County Hall was part of my life for many years!
I was a young child of around 7 when I first saw County Hall and I thought Kings and Queens must live there, little did I know that 9 years later as a 16 year old teenager I would enter into the large building at the top of the hill as a junior clerk in the Highways Dept., in those days there was no “new building” just white single storey annexs and when I collected the post had to run from the back door of County Hall to avoid geting wet when it rained, because a young 16 year old wouldn’t dream of putting their coat on and spoiling the look, and now I’m approaching my 60th birthday I still working for HCC only now over at Stevenage, happy days……..
I remember always being excited when my parents drove my sister and I past it in the car. It stood out from the rest of the area and was always illuminated at night. Not really knowing where it was just added to the mystery. I also loved seeing the green space around it. I’ve only been inside a few times – it’s so labyrinthine you almost need to take a piece of string!