Ralph Crowe – Modern Mooch

Abbey Foregate Shrewsbury SY2 6LY

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir Offley Wakeman, a former chairman of the county council, on 25 July 1964. It was designed by Ralph Crowe, the County Architect, in the Modernist style, built at a cost of £1.8 million and was completed in April 1966.

Having visited and snapped way back in June 2024, I returned in October 2025.

I had been asked to speak to the Shrewsbury Civic Society, regarding the history of Modernism in support of their campaign to save Shirehall.

The previous County Council were disposed toward demolition, the current administration are a little more circumspect.

Shropshire Council is considering a return to its former headquarters, less than a year after it moved out. The authority moved from 1960s-built Shirehall in Shrewsbury to the Guildhall in Frankwell, and said doing so would save up to £600,000 per year.

At a meeting on Wednesday, cabinet member for finance Roger Evans said the Liberal Democrats, who lead the council, had paused the demolition and sale of the land, and may retain parts of the building – but only if it could afford to do so.

“We would like to retain the council chamber and some of the associated buildings, but we do need to take account for the cost both in cash terms and in net zero terms,” he said. “What we have done is paused this decision and asked experts to look at it again, look at the whole site, do a reappraisal. The results are just now being recieved.

“I want to keep it as much as we can afford, both environmentally and cash-wise. Whether we can or not will depend, the council is strapped for cash.”

BBC – 19 November 2025

We can only hope that this remarkable building is saved – minimising cost and ecological impact.

So take a look around on what was a very wet Autumn day.

Here is a previous post illustrating the building’s interior.

Abbey Foregate Shrewsbury SY2 6LY

It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, on 17 March 1967.

The design for the six-storey building facing Abbey Foregate involved continuous bands of glazing with concrete panels above and below: it also included an unusual ovoid-shaped council chamber which jutted out to the south-west of the main building.

Pevsner described the building as – the major monument to post-war modernism in the county.

Wikipedia

Shropshire Council initially backed a scheme drawn up by HLM Architects in 2017 to revamp Shirehall to provide modern working facilities as well as commercial opportunities. However this plan has not progressed and the local authority has said that making the building fit for purpose would require ‘a multi-million pound investment’.

Architects Journal

in September 2020, the council indicated that it would rather sell the building and move to the town centre. Then in October 2020, following an application for a certificate of immunity from listing requested by the county council, English Heritage decided not to list County Hall as the building did not meet the criteria for listing post-1945 buildings.

In May 2021 the Twentieth Century Society placed the site on its Top 10 Buildings at Risk List.

The Shrewsbury Civic Society is fighting hard to prevent the demolition.

There is nothing else quite like it in the county, this is an excellent civic building, well-made and individual.

Owen Hatherley: Modern Buildings in Britain: A Gazetteer

I have previously visited Durham where the County Hall is also under threat, and Newcastle, where the Civic Centre seems to have a real future.

This what I saw on my recent visit to the site.