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 The
Town Hall, which faces onto Market Hill, also known as the Market
Square, dates back to 1745 and is a Grade II* listed structure.
The second floor contains the Assembly Rooms with an impressive
collection of portraits of national and local interest dating back
to the eighteenth century, Council Chamber and the Mayor’s
Parlour. While on the ground floor the original Assize, Crown Courts
and holding cells can be found.
Following the transfer of the magistrate’s court to the new
law courts in Huntingdon, the lease for the ground and first floor
was assigned to Huntingdon Town Council in 2010. It is the Council’s
aim to renovate the building and bring it back into full use.
Annual Open days are held by the Huntingdon and Godmanchester Civic
Society and the Assembly Rooms are available for hire for certain
selected functions. Please contact Huntingdon Town Council on 01480
388688 for further  information.
Town Seal
The Borough seal shows two hounds attacking a deer, accompanied
by a hunter with his bow and arrows. The legend around the edge
of the seal reads Sigillum Communitatis De Hunterisdune, which means
“Seal of the Corporation of Huntingdon.” The original
engraver of the seal, back in 1628, mistakenly replaced the “d”
in Huntingdon with an “o.” In 1634 the town paid for
a new seal to be made, this time with the correct spelling.
The seal was very important. Huntingdon was an incorporated borough,
which meant that its ruling body had its own legal identity, and
could enter into legal agreements with other organisations and individuals.
The seal acted as the town’s signature, affirming the legal
status of any document to which it was attached. The Town’s
Clerk would press the seal into warm wax at the bottom of the official
documents, to leave an imprint.
Huntingdon and Godmanchester united to form a single borough in
1961, but borough status was abolished in 1974. Seals are still
used today by imprinting on paper. Huntingdon’s original seal
design is still used today as the town’s logo.
Alan Akeroyd
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