REGIONAL RUNNER-UP: The Prichard Jones Institute, Newborough, Anglesey

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• 1. Background
• 2. Regional Information
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Background

• Listing: Grade 2*
• Date of building: 1905
• www.pjinstitute.co.uk
• Prichard Jones Institute Gallery
• Prichard Jones Institute Virtual Tour

Sir John Prichard served an apprenticeship as a draper eventually rising to the position of chairman of the famous Dickens & Jones department store in London to which he gave his name. The Institute was designed by Roland Lloyd Jones and completed in 1905 at a cost of £20,000. The neo-Tudor style two-storey building, complete with clock tower, is an unusually lofty design for a location often buffeted by strong south-westerly winds.

The Institute was intended to serve as a community centre for the people of Newborough and the adjoining parishes of Llangeinwen, Llangaffo, Llanidan and Malltraeth. Its facilities included a library, exhibition space and meeting and lecture rooms. The building was intended to contribute to the betterment of those using it. As well as copies of paintings by well-known artists of the calibre of JMW Turner, it also houses a copy of The 'Compleat Angler' by Izaak Walton, one of the most widely read books in English literature.

At its peak the Institute received daily deliveries of newspapers and periodicals from London and its capacious halls were used for banquets and civic functions. During and after World War Two the building was used as a school, and later, during the snooker boom of the 1980s, two full-sized tables were added.

The Institute’s upkeep was paid for from the annual income generated by a property in the City of London at 24 Aldgate, until it was destroyed by bombs in World War Two. Sadly in the last 10 years the Institute has declined in use and the trustees have struggled to maintain the building. The roof is in need of urgent attention and widespread damp and patches of woodworm need to be resolved.

The trustees hope that remedial work will see the Institute restored to its rightful place at the heart of community life.

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