BRIGG OFFICE BLOCK 'REFURB' ON SITE WITH AN INTERESTING HISTORY

North Lincolnshire Council is currently carrying out "refurbishment works" in Brigg to its main Hewson House office block within the town centre.
A spokesperson for the local authority told Brigg Blog this week: "Temporary signage is in place on Station Road directing visitors to an alternative entrance whilst work is carried out."



 

Signs showing the way through the alternative entrance.

 The refurb set us thinking about the history of local government at this location which stretches back a very long way.
That might surprise many local folk as the current Hewson House looks, and is, of modern design.
However, back in the 1930s the old Brigg Rural District Council acquired a detached house directly opposite the Post Office for use by its small staff.
Part of it can still be seen from Bigby Street, with many additions built to the sides and behind down the decades.

Brigg RDC added major extensions in the mid-1960s, and a black and white picture here - taken from our archive - shows a plaque being unveiled to mark that project's completion.
Coun Reg Harrison, from Hibaldstow, as chairman of the RDC, is seen 'doing the honours'.
On the right is his Chaplain, village vicar the Rev David Evans, who also taught religious education at Brigg Grammar School for some years.
Fourth from left is Robert Crosby, clerk to the RDC, who later became the first clerk and chief executive of Glanford Borough Council when it was created in 1974.
Glanford took over these offices as its HQ and added further extensions in the early 1980s.
However, when this second-tier authority was declared surplus to requirements in 1996 following yet another review of local government, the Bigby Street office block passed to the newly-formed North Lincolnshire Council - a unitary authority providing a complete range of services to the public.
Recognising the contribution made to local government by Brigg's Coun George Hewson over many decades, North Lincolnshire Council named its Brigg HQ in his honour, with some members of his family being present at the ceremony.
In Brigg today we have a housing development/court named after Joe Magrath, who was clerk to Brigg Urban District Council and later Brigg Town Council, but as yet nothing similar has been done, as yet, to remember the work done by Robert Crosby for Brigg RDC and the later Glanford Borough Council.