INTRODUCTION
Victoria Hall is one of the most historic buildings in Canada.

It was conceived in the minds of some of Cobourg's prominent citizens during the late 1840s and 1850s when enthusiasm ran high that Cobourg might even become the capital of Upper Canada and hence a building in keeping with such ambition should be built to house the potential government and its services.

The first plans were drawn up in 1852 for a building to cost £5,000 but enthusiasm soon outran this proposal. Winner of a contest for such plans, the renowned Kivas Tully was engaged as architect and the contract was let to Messrs William and David Burnet to build the Hall for £16,000, the final figure being £22,000 which was not paid off till 1938 (in 1850 dollars, this was about $110,000).

The architectural style is Palladian, named for Andrea Palladio whose style involved a return to the Greco-Roman temple front with a portico or roofed porch supported by columns. The entrance to Victoria Hall is of this type with the speaker’s platform supported by four Corinthian pillars. To the rear of these are six pilasters. The material was Cleveland freestone facing on three sides with white brick on the fourth, the lake or south side. The form of the building is E-shaped with the east wing basically housing the Town Offices; the central core, comprising the Courtroom, based on the Old Bailey Courtroom of London and the Concert Hall two stories above it, and the west wing Provincial Family Court offices and Art Gallery. There were twenty-six offices in the original lay-out and ninety-six windows on the east, west and front.

Outside if you have looked up from the street you will have noticed the towering crown-topped-cupola with its four clock faces surmounted by a gilded weather vane and the four cardinal compass points. The top of the weather vane is 120 feet above King Street. The roof is of slate. In the 1880's the roof line was raised several inches and a shingle roof was added. This was moved with the renovation and the roof-line is now the original. Above the two entrance doors are the emblems of England, Ireland and Scotland, the rose, the shamrock and thistle. On the ceiling of the entrance portico is the original crest of the Town.

The original cornerstone to the left of the main entrance and below ground level was to have been laid by Sir Allan Napier MacNab on December 18th, 1856 but was postponed until the 30th.

It was re-laid on Friday, June 24th, 1977.  Four years were consumed in the construction of the building. On September 7th, 1860 H.R.H. the Prince of Wales officially opened the Hall, named in honour of his mother, Queen Victoria, and a Ball in celebration was held in the Grand Concert Hall. Such was the beginning of Victoria Hall.

As the years went by a minimum of money was spent on the maintenance of the building until, in 1970-71 an engineer's survey declared the building unsafe, especially because of the dry rot in the supporting beams in the Concert Hall and wet rot where beams entered the foundation walls. Thereupon, a group of civic-minded and history-conscious citizens formed the Society for the Restoration of Victoria Hall with Donald F. Philp as president. In 1976 Lieut. Col. Cedric P. Haynes succeeded him and has been filling this office very capably since that time. The year 1983 saw the culmination of the renovation which has been done in three phases, first the removal of all damaged and unsafe material, second the restoration of main and third floors, and finally the restoration of the Grand Concert Hall and the second floor.

The Foyer
The foyer is now restored to its original size. In the late 1800's partitions were put in to provide offices for the police department, the tax collector and later, for use of the Chamber of Commerce. These have been removed and you see the foyer as originally designed although a sprinkler system has been installed for fire protection. On the east wall is a fire alarm panel which shows various areas of the building which will sound an intermittent alarm and light up showing the particular area of fire. There is also a device to signal for evacuation of the building.

This foyer has witnessed over the years many town events such as nominations for town offices, bazaars held by ladies of the various churches, presentations to deserving citizens and other small civic functions. It has been named in honour of the late Mrs. Lenah Field Fisher who served as Deputy Reeve for 15 years and was a devoted and enthusiastic supporter of the restoration, leaving the bulk of her estate to this cause.

Courtroom
This room is modeled on that of the Old Bailey in London's criminal courts. The first thing you notice is the Royal Coat of Arms as painted by a German artist named Moser, which seems almost three-dimensional.

In front of this is the dais for the Judge; below is the court clerk; at the foot of the stairs is the prisoner's box facing the judge. The jury used to sit on the left but there are no jury trials now. Provincial Court is held here on Mondays and Thursdays.

Two portraits of famous Cobourg jurists by Sir Wyly Grier are hung here. To the right, Judge T.M. Benson; to the left, Chief Justice J. D. Armour. The room has seen some memorable trials - to name one of them - that of Sir Arthur Currie's action for libel against the Port Hope Guide in that he needlessly sacrificed men on the eve of the Armistice of World War I. He was vindicated and granted damages. This room has been restored under the aegis of the Attorney General's department as the Family Court and has its offices off the west hall from the foyer. Robing chambers and secretarial offices of the Provincial judges are in rooms behind the Coat of Arms where the prisoner's cells used to be. The present cells for holding prisoners in custody are in the basement beneath the Family Court.

The original ceiling of this court room was plaster. It deteriorated and was replaced by a wooden one in 1879. Under restoration requirements, this was removed and the present drop ceiling was put in, covering ductwork etc.

The Mayor's Office.
The Mayor's office at one time was at the end of the hall to the east side but he now occupies this room. It is furnished to some degree with period furniture. The antique chairs, the chest of drawers and the telephone table came from Mrs. Fisher's estate; the wardrobe was a gift of Miss Lenore Kennedy; the large bookcase was donated by the 33rd Medium Regiment R.C.A.  Note the dropped ceiling does not interfere with the lovely curve of the windows, note too the wooden shutters with their shiny brass fittings. The Barlett prints on the east wall are the gift of Mrs. J. Pewtress, some of her collection of about 150 which she donated to the Town. This room will likely be named the William Weller room after Cobourg's first Mayor in 1850.

Town Council Chambers
This room has been set up as the meeting place of the Town Council by a generous grant from the McLaughlin foundation. Before this the Council met in a room below this at the King Street end where it was very noisy.

Before the restoration this room had seen various uses:

• As an armoury for No. 1 and No. 2 Companies of the 40th Northumberland Battalion
• The Cobourg Branch of the Red Cross used it for assembling parcels during the two World Wars;
• The Cobourg Drama Club used it as a little theatre with a stage on the north and opera seats from the old King George theatre on the south end.
• The most recent use was as a Lodge room for the ladies of the Order of the Eastern Star.

There are more Bartlett prints on the walls of the Council room. Above the Mayor's dais is Cobourg's new Coat of Arms painted by Louis Stover a native of Cobourg. Mrs. Fisher was instrumental in adopting the Coat of Arms.

The former fire hall, 100 years old in 1983, can be seen to the south.  At the north end of the Council room there is a small lunch area and from this is the entrance to two committee rooms, one containing portraits of former mayors of the Town.