Assembly Rooms

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Derby's original Assembly Rooms building was built between 1752 and 1755 by the London architect, Matthew Habershon (although it has been suggested that Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers, who was a leading member of the committee, was responsible for it.)

Assembly rooms were built all over the country and served the genteel middle-classes as social meeting rooms to see and be seen within society. They held music recitals and dances and dress codes and manners were strictly controlled.

Robert and James Adam were asked in 1770 to submit designs for Derby's Assembly Rooms interior. There is no evidence that they did so, but the ceiling was probably the work of Abraham Denston, a plaster worker who had worked for Adam at Kedleston Hall.

The building was gutted by fire in November 1963. The five bay stone facade to the building was re-erected at Crich Tramway Village, home of the National Tramway Museum, where it still stands, but the beautiful interior was lost forever.

Between 1973 and 1977 work was carried out on a replacement Assembly Rooms by Casson, Conder and Partners.

The long section of the new Assembly Rooms building was once the north west side of the Market Place, which formerly housed a row of Georgian and Victorian shops.

The Tourist Information Centre now stands on the site of the old, original Assembly Rooms.

The council had hoped that the new building would be called the Royal Assembly Rooms because it was the Queen's Jubilee year. But the Home Office rejected the idea. So it was eventually decided to simply name it the Assembly Rooms.

HRH Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, visited Derby on November 9, 1977, to officially open the Assembly Rooms. She watched an opening night concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, of which she was patron.

Tickets for that first concert were £1.50, £2.50 and £3.50. Concert proceeds of £1,000 were sent to the Queen's Jubilee Appeal.

The 77-year-old Queen Mother brought a touch of West End glamour to the city when she arrived swathed in diamonds, pearls and a white mink.

The Old Assembly Rooms in Derby which were built in the 18th century

HRH Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother at the official opening of the Assembly Rooms in November 1977. On the far right is Derby's then Mayor, Councillor Jeffrey Tillett

The new Assembly Rooms in Derby which were opened by the Queen Mother in November 1977

A tea dance at Derby Assembly Rooms in September 1980

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County: Derbyshire

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