The John Francis Basset

The John Francis Basset is a public house and hotel in Camborne, Cornwall, England, operated by J D Wetherspoon plc. It occupies the town's former Market House — also known historically as Camborne Town Hall — a Grade II listed building on Church Street. The pub takes its name from John Francis Basset, the 'Squire of Tehidy', the local landowner who paid for the rebuilding of the Market House in 1866–67 after its predecessor was severely damaged in a storm two years earlier. The Basset family coat of arms can still be seen in the stonework, and a clock by Dent of London, said to be a miniature replica of Big Ben, was commissioned by John Francis Basset for the tower. The building has had a long and varied commercial life. It originally housed a market hall and corn exchange, the Camborne Savings Bank and assembly rooms, and later a courtroom and town hall. In 1911 a two-storey Italian-palazzo-style extension was added along Church Street, becoming St George's Hall and later the Scala Cinema. Over the 20th century the site served as a cinema, skating rink and concert venue (hosting performers including The Who), a nightclub called The Berkeley Centre, and from 2004 The Corn Exchange. Wetherspoon purchased the building in 2010 and, after a £1.3 million refurbishment, reopened it as the 'John Francis Basset' pub in May 2011, adding a hotel on the Commercial Street frontage in July 2015. As a Wetherspoon venue it offers the chain's familiar formula of affordable food and drink in a large, heritage setting, and forms part of the company's estate of pubs and hotels across the United Kingdom.

The site of The John Francis Basset has been a focus of Camborne's commercial and civic life for centuries. The town was first granted a right to hold markets in 1708. In the early 19th century a market house was commissioned by the lord of the manor, Francis Basset, 1st Baron de Dunstanville, whose seat was at Tehidy House; it was erected on the corner of Commercial Street and Church Street in 1802 and rebuilt in the 1830s. Following damage caused by a major storm in 1864, the then lord of the manor, John Francis Basset, offered to rebuild the structure again. The new building was designed in the Italianate style, built in ashlar sandstone and completed in 1867. It originally consisted of a rectangular block of seven bays facing Commercial Street with a four-stage tower on the right, and internally housed the town hall on the ground floor and the magistrates' courtroom on the first floor, with an eleven-bay single-storey market hall extending along Church Street, also intended for use as a corn exchange. The building was not only a marketplace but a stage for local drama. In October 1873 a trial took place there during which the prosecuting solicitor demanded that the miners James and Joseph Bawden be sentenced to five months on the treadmill in Bodmin Jail for their part in the Camborne riots; during the trial the defendants' supporters threatened to blow up the Redruth Courthouse and pursued the prosecutor down the street, and many of the market house windows were shattered in the disturbances that followed. An hour-striking clock, designed and manufactured by Dent of London, was installed in the fourth stage of the tower in 1875; Wetherspoon's own history notes that it was commissioned by John Francis Basset and is said to be a miniature replica of Big Ben. The market hall was leased by the Basset family to William Tangye in September 1887, but the use of the building as a corn exchange declined significantly in the wake of the Great Depression of British Agriculture in the late 19th century. In 1911 the complex was considerably expanded by the addition of an extra floor above the single-storey market hall, creating a two-storey Italian-palazzo-style extension along Church Street. This became known as St George's Hall and was converted into a cinema known as the Picturedrome in early 1909, rebranded as the Cinedrome in 1920 and as the Scala Cinema in 1937. Following the closure of the cinema in the early 1960s, the building was acquired by the Bartle family and became a skating rink and concert venue; performers who took part in events there included the vocal group The Cascades in 1963 and the rock band The Who in October 1965. In 1979, following a change of ownership, the venue started operating as a nightclub known as 'The Berkeley Centre', where the local band Muse performed in the mid-1990s. In September 2004 it was acquired by the Vigus family and rebranded as 'The Corn Exchange'. After the owners of the Corn Exchange got into financial difficulties, the building was purchased by Wetherspoon in 2010. Following a major programme of refurbishment works costing £1.3 million, it reopened as a public house known as the 'John Francis Basset' on the Church Street frontage in May 2011, and then as a hotel on the Commercial Street frontage in July 2015. The pub's name honours the squire of Tehidy who paid for the Victorian Market House, and the Basset family coat of arms remains visible in the stonework. As part of the J D Wetherspoon estate — a company founded in 1979 and floated on the Stock Exchange in 1992 as J D Wetherspoon plc — the venue follows the chain's model of large, value-priced pubs, often in distinctive historic buildings, and its pub history is documented on Wetherspoon's own website.

• 2015

  A hotel opens on the Commercial Street frontage in July.

• 2011

  After a £1.3 million refurbishment, it reopens as the 'John Francis Basset' pub in May.

• 2010

  Wetherspoon purchases the building.

• 2004

  Acquired by the Vigus family and rebranded as The Corn Exchange.

• 1979

  The venue begins operating as a nightclub known as The Berkeley Centre.

• 1965

  The Who perform at the venue, then a skating rink and concert venue.

• 1937

  The cinema is rebranded as the Scala Cinema.

• 1920

  The cinema is rebranded as the Cinedrome.

• 1911

  A two-storey Italian-palazzo-style extension (St George's Hall) is added along Church Street.

• 1909

  The Church Street block is converted into a cinema known as the Picturedrome.

• 1887

  The market hall is leased by the Basset family to William Tangye.

• 1875

  An hour-striking clock by Dent of London is installed in the tower.

• 1873

  A trial of miners involved in the Camborne riots takes place in the building; windows are shattered in the ensuing disturbances.

• 1867

  The new Italianate Market House, funded by John Francis Basset, is completed.

• 1864

  A major storm severely damages the market house.

• 1802

  A market house commissioned by Francis Basset, 1st Baron de Dunstanville, is erected on the corner of Commercial Street and Church Street.

• 1708

  Camborne first granted a right to hold markets.

Value-focused pub and hotel in a heritage Grade II listed building, part of the national Wetherspoon estate.

• Wetherspoon pub food and drink

• Hotel accommodation

1. 1The John Francis Basset - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
2. 2History - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
3. 3About us - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
4. 4Awards - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
5. 5Market House, Camborne - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
6. 6John Francis Basset - Wikidatawikidata.org