DANIEL BINGHAM
1830-1913
Daniel Bingham
(W Dennis Moss)
1830-1905
Daniel Bingham is probably Cirencester’s best remembered son and his legacies are as much in evidence today as they were a century ago. Although he spent many years abroad he left behind a number of memorials to his generosity. The two outstanding ones resulted from trusts set up by him at the beginning of the twentieth century. The first, in 1903, resulted in the Bingham Library, the second, in 1907, in the Bingham Hall.
Born in Black Jack Street in 1830, the son of a cabinet maker, he took a short walk most mornings to the town’s grammar school, then in Park Lane.
He left school at a time when the railways were coming into their own and became a clerk at the town’s Great Western Station. There he caught the eye of the district manager a Mr James Forbes. Mr Forbes became a district manager and Daniel Bingham moved with him to Paddington. Later Mr Forbes became general manager of the Dutch Rhenish Railway and, on his retirement, Daniel Bingham succeeded him.
Mr Bingham moved to Utrecht with his wife Jane who was a cousin. His insight into the development of railways worldwide allowed him to invest wisely and he retired at the age of 60 a very rich man.
Fortunately he never lost touch with his home town. Well into his seventies, he purchased a warehouse in Dyer Street together with an adjoining house as a site for his project. The foundation stone for the Bingham Library was laid in January 1904 and it was opened in September the following year, replacing an earlier library in the Corn Hall. After seventy years it was moved to larger and more modern premises in the grounds of Dyer House.
The former library building in Dyer Street is now Bingham House and for a while it was the home to the Cirencester Town Council and still houses the Council Chamber.
Cirencester historians are fortunate in that W Dennis Moss, the town's best known photographer in the first half of the century, recorded many notable events of the time. Examples of his work are contained in, 'Cirencester a Century Ago - the Bingham Legacy' by David and Linda Viner on behalf of the Trustees of the Bingham Library. We are grateful to Mr and Mrs Viner, and to the Trustees, for allowing the reproduction of some of those black and white photographs from the book in this website. The Bingham Library Trust's own website can be accessed on:
www.binghamlibrarytrust.org.uk
1906-1918
At the turn of the twentieth century much of what is now Victoria Road was undeveloped. Until Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887 it was called simply ‘New Road’ by which name it was known when the Grammar School opened in a brand new building there in 1881. The school then clearly stood in its own grounds with no close neighbours either side. Almost opposite the school was another ‘New Road’ which was to become King Street.
1886 map of the area – before King Street existed
(Kennet J Beecham 1886)
Daniel Bingham purchased the land on the south side of the street to use for the purposes of the Bingham Hall Trust.
AND WHEREAS the Founder is desirous of conveying the said piece of land
to the said Trustees upon the trusts and subject to the powers hereinafter
declared and contained concerning the same, AND of erecting and
constructing thereon a Hall and Rifle Range for the benefit of the Inhabitants
of his native town of Cirencester and the neighbouring Parishes, and of
establishing a Rifle Club in connection with the Hall, and also of erecting
upon the said piece of land sundry Villas and Cottages, the rents and profits
of which are intended to be applied in maintaining the said Hall, Rifle Range,
and Rifle Club, and otherwise as hereinafter mentioned.
(Extract from the Trust Deed dated 16th March 1907)
Excavation for the foundations revealed the site of a Roman building within which was part of a tessellated floor. The floor was removed and incorporated in the hall’s main entrance.
The foundation stone for the hall was laid by Countess Bathurst in March 1908. The building took about six months to complete and was opened on 14th October that year by Mrs Bingham.
Extract from a supplement to the Wilts & Glos Standard of 17th October 1908
Building operations then moved on to the caretaker’s residence, twelve cottages in King Street and six villas in Watermoor Road – the latter described in the Trust deed as ‘Cricklade Road’.
The original intention was that the upkeep of the hall would be provided out of rents from the residential properties. In the early stages of the hall’s history the rents did exactly that.
The hall incorporated a large stage and proscenium. When first opened the ceiling of the hall was a basic affair with exposed rafters and supports. A play The Runaway Girl was put on to test the acoustics and as a result the present ceiling was added.
Drilling, gymnastics and games were amongst the popular uses to which the hall was then put and the stage played host to a variety of dramatic and social events.
Interior of the Main Hall in 1908
(W Dennis Moss)
The height of the chandeliers which now grace the hall is adjustable and they can even be wound down to floor level.
An unusual feature of the hall is the sloping floor which provides the audience with the best possible view of the stage. Originally, to solve the problem for dancers, a movable ‘sprung’ floor was available to be placed in position to provide a level surface. Over the years syncopated feet wore it out!
The hall complex included a rifle range to encourage the responsible and skilled use of firearms by the local menfolk. So importantly was this viewed by Mr Bingham that the Trust document included provision for a rifle club to be based there in perpetuity.
3 The said Hall, when erected, shall be called “The Bingham Hall” and the
said Rifle Club, which it is intended to form as aforesaid, shall be called
“The Cotswold Rifle Club”.
(Extract from the Trust Deed dated 16th March 1907)
The range was very much ‘state of the art’ for the Edwardian period. 100 feet long, it was equipped with a Solarno target incorporating variable landscapes with both static and moving targets. Over the years the range became a very popular competition and practice venue for the Cotswold Rifle Club. Of course, more recent legislation has changed the character of such clubs but the Cotswold Rifle Club has adapted to the changes and is still in existence today, as Daniel Bingham decreed.
The Rifle Range 1908
(W Dennis Moss)
The hall had not been in existence many years before the advent of the Great War and in 1914 it became a Red Cross hospital admitting over 400 casualties in its first year. Entertainments were provided and concerts held for the troops and in aid of Belgian refugees whose country was among the first to be invaded.
The Rifle Range as a Ward
(W Dennis Moss)
1919-1949
Following the Armistice the hall gradually got into the swing of providing an attractive venue for social events ranging from the modest to the elite.
After two decades of peace, and with the advent of the Second World War, the hall was again in use supporting the war effort. Men of the Pioneer Corps were housed there followed later by the New Zealand Foresters who were felling trees for military use in Cirencester Park. It was they who constructed a large ‘temporary’ wooden store in the yard at the side of the hall, a construction which stood for well over half a century.
By the end of the war the decor was in a sorry state. Despite this the hall quickly resumed its peacetime role as a centre for local entertainment. Even professional boxing and wrestling events were held. Because of its proximity to the Grammar School it was used for occasions when the school wished to assemble as a whole. The school hall could not contain all its pupils at the same time, their ranks having been swollen by refugee children almost doubling the peacetime numbers. Many former pupils return to the Bingham Hall every three years or so for Grand Reunions. In remembrance of those former pupils who lost their lives in the two wars, memorial plaques listing the 74 who lost their lives, have a permanent home in the hall. Additionally, portraits of the headmaster, Mr Thomas Frazer, and Senior Mistress, Miss Emma Peach, who both held those same positions during the two wars are displayed there.
1950-present
The hall complex continued to suffer for some years from the loss of finances during the Second World War and it is only in the past two decades that the interior has gradually been restored to its former glory.
The former Rifle Range has been renovated and is now the ‘Daniel Bingham Suite’ and used for social events.
The large store erected in the war by the New Zealand Foresters outlived its usefulness after almost sixty years and was replaced by an imposing stone building in similar style to the rest of the Edwardian facade. The excavations needed for the foundations again brought to light a section of Ermine Street, the ruts made by the cart wheels of Roman times briefly seeing the light of day, while further minor artifacts from the Roman period were retrieved and have been donated to the Corinium Museum.
The Bingham Hall today
(Dr Brian Gegg)
