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Shire Hall, WARWICK, CV34 4AG

Businesses on the right are in Old Square. The paving and the low wall are of Hornton Stone from the Edge Hill area. Also known as Marlstone Rock, it's an iron-rich limestone from the Middle Jurassic period. Dark green when quarried it eventually oxidises to rust brown. The cladding could be Warwick sandstone but Hollington stone from Staffordshire may have been used for its greater resistance to weathering.

The wall of Hornton Stone (aka Marlstone Rock) guards a pedestrian ramp to the public entrance, left.

Warwick town square shot from the Warwickshire County Council Shire Hall offices. Warwick racecourse is shrouded by mist.

A pair of pillar ERII boxes on Market Place in Warwick.

This is above the main public entrance at the top of Market Place. The central motif is the 'bear and ragged staff' from the arms of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, sometime favourite of Queen Elizabeth I who presented him with Kenilworth Castle. His tomb is in the Beauchamp Chapel: on the left in Image The motto 'non sanz droict' means 'not without right' – see Image

The paved Market Place provides a venue for a weekly Saturday market, and for the Mop and the Runaway Mop (fairs) in the autumn. At other times it looks a bit empty, hard and dull. The ground floor of Shire Hall now houses Warwick Library, a Post Office, and enquiries about council services.

This is the main entrance to Shire Hall from Market Place. The oldest parts of it were built between 1753 and 1758. It was originally just used as courts but, following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of Warwickshire County Council. There was a major extension of the complex in 1932 with a massive increase in size eastward towards the former barracks and onto the site where the Militia Hall once stood. The council chambers and further offices were added in 1958 and in 1966. Included was the relocation of the Warwickshire County Emergency Centre, a bunker. The complex, excluding the post-war extensions, is listed, grade I, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1364827 A market town and county town of Warwickshire, Warwick lies on the River Avon, 11 miles (18 kilometres) south of Coventry. There is evidence of unbroken habitation from the 6th century AD with signs of Neolithic and Roman activity before that date. It was a Saxon burh in the 9th century and Warwick Castle was built during the Norman Conquest. Much of the town was destroyed in The Great Fire of Warwick in 1694. Warwick Racecourse is located just west of the town centre. The Grand Union Canal passes through the town and the restored Saltisford Canal Arm is close to the town centre.

Shire Hall is the headquarters of Warwickshire County Council. A large extension was built in the 1950s and 60s facing onto the Market Place, with a fountain and pool outside. The heron sculptures are a much more recent addition, the work of Rachel Higgins, a local artist. https://www.stratford-herald.com/whats-on/escape-arts-reveal-new-sculpture-9139783/ The dismantling of the Saturday market in the square can be seen taking place in the background.

The marbled green and brown Hornton stone is quarried near Edgehill on the Oxfordshire-Warwickshire border. It is a hard limestone with some iron content, as I understand it. This wall supports a pedestrian ramp into Shire Hall. It appears to be solid stone rather than a stone facing to a concrete block wall.