Municipal Buildings, Dorchester

The Municipal Buildings, also known as the Corn Exchange and Town Hall, are located on the north side of High East Street in Dorchester, Dorset, England.

The structure, which incorporates the meeting place of Dorchester Town Council and an arts and community venue, is a Grade II* listed building.

[1] The new building was designed by Benjamin Ferrey in the Gothic Revival style, built by Samuel Slade in brown Broadmayne bricks with stone dressings and was completed in 1848.

[7] After a fall in price of English corn as a result of cheap imports in the 1870s, the openings on the ground floor were filled in with windows and the former corn exchange was subsequently used as an events venue: the novelist, Thomas Hardy, attended a rehearsal of his play, The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall at Tintagel in Lyonnesse, which was performed by the Hardy Players, there in summer 1923.

[9] The municipal buildings remained the meeting place of Dorchester Borough Council for much of the 20th century, supplemented by nearby offices on North Square.