The County Assembly Rooms
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
A brief history of the County Assembly Rooms
The County Assembly Rooms has been founded on Bailgate, Lincoln, since 1745.
The plans for the building were agreed at a meeting of certain Landed Gentry of the County of Lincolnshire, which was held in The Angel Public House on Bailgate which is now Bailgate Post Office.
The Landed Gentry wanted a move from The City Assembly Rooms which were situated by The Old Butter Market at St. Peter at Arches between High Street and Silver Street, Lincoln.
The main reason for the new building was to entertain guests who visited Lincoln Races which took part on The Carholme, Carholme Road, Lincoln. One of the grandstands is still standing. There were two but the wrong one was demolished some thirty years ago. This was wrong to do so as it was a Listed Building.
The Tennyson Suite was added at the rear of the building in 1825, built originally as a Gentleman's Card Room. This still has Georgian glass in the windows.
In 1914, Albert Shuttleworth, a Lincoln industrialist added The Oval Room to the front of the ballroom where the carriageway was situated.
The County Assembly Rooms has proudly hosted many functions throughout it's history, even entertaining Her Majesty the Queen on two occasions, the last time being the Maundy Money in the year 2000.
During the last war, the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment were barracked in the Rooms whilst waiting to embark from Grimsby to North Africa and many of the Show Bands such as Geraldo, Joe Loss, Ronnie Aldrich, Eric Delaney, Ted Heath, Johnny Dankworth and Victor Sylvester played both during the war and afterwards.