Halifax Town Hall

Coordinates: 53°43′28″N 1°51′38″W / 53.72444°N 1.86056°W / 53.72444; -1.86056 (Halifax Town Hall)
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the city hall in Halifax, West Yorkshire. For the equivalent building in Halifax, Nova Scotia, see Halifax City Hall.

Halifax Town Hall
Map
General information
Architectural styleClassical style
Classification
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated31 July 1963
Reference no.1314024
Town or cityHalifax
CountryEngland
Construction started1861
Completed1863
Cost£50,126[1]
ClientHalifax Council
Technical details
Structural systemSandstone
Design and construction
Architect(s)Charles Barry
Edward Middleton Barry

Halifax Town Hall is a grade II*

town hall in the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It is notable for its design and interiors by Charles Barry and his son, Edward Middleton Barry, and for its sculptures by John Thomas. The town hall is also the headquarters of Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council
.

History

Building in context: compare with 1860 plan

The Mayor and corporation first proposed that they build a new town hall in 1847. They suggested it again in 1853 after the town had become a

town hall, courthouse and police station. The 1856 proposal was also prompted by John Crossley, who was at that time developing Princess Street and Crossley Street, using the architects Lockwood and Mawson who later designed Bradford City Hall. This may explain why the town hall blends in with several Crossley Street buildings, which are now listed as a group.[3]

The council, Edward Akroyd and John Crossley requested that Charles Barry judge the design entries; he disliked all three entries and was asked in turn to submit his own design. His design was accepted, but he died in 1860. His son, Edward Middleton Barry, completed the design which was erected on a 148 x 90 ft plot on John Crossley's land. The foundation stone was laid in 1861.[1] Whiteley Brothers were the builders. It was listed on 31 July 1963.[4][5]

Opening

Alexandra, Princess of Wales, 1863

Three hundred and fifty-eight trains brought 70,000 people, and thousands more walked, to attend a two-day session of openings and visits in Halifax by Prince Albert Edward (the future King Edward VII) on 3 and 4 August 1863. There was a grand procession to the town hall on 4 August, through decorated streets. This was followed by a service in the Piece Hall at which thousands of children sang hymns while 870 police controlled the crowd.[4][6] Perhaps Victoria herself might have opened the town hall, but for her widowhood in 1861 and her subsequent retirement from public life. Edward was 22 years old and had married the 18-year-old Princess Alexandra in March of that year. However, by 4 August, she was four months pregnant with the future Duke of Clarence, pleaded illness and did not join her husband for the opening, to much public disappointment. It rained:

"Even though shorn of its principal attraction through the unfortunate absence of the Princess of Wales, and though dimmed as regards its pomp and circumstance owing to the rain which fell at so very inconvenient a time, the opening of the new town hall by the Prince of Wales is still an event of which Halifax may well be proud ... The enthusiasm and almost unbounded devotion of a people to their future monarch has been symbolised in every form of decorative skill and beauty, by gay banners, many coloured flags and the ornamentations of the designers, vying with nature, ever profuse in her lovely gifts, to form floral designs of the most varied, chaste and unique description. Our very streets were redolent with the fragrance of the flower garden ... The rain began to fall somewhat heavily by eleven o'clock on Monday night and, as far as we can learn, continued to fall all night. From a very early hour in the morning it descended literally in torrents, ceaselessly, pitilessly. It would be impossible to calculate the amount of real misery experienced here." Halifax Courier, August 1863.[6]

Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, 1863

When Edward arrived by

Albert, Edward, and Alexandra. These were put in storage from 1954 after redecoration and restored to public view on 6 September 2008.[6]

Town hall today

King

Halifax railway station.[8] In 1994–95 the offices on the ground floor were double-glazed.[9] In 2006–07 the carved, wooden Overgate Hospice panel was presented to the town hall by local woodcarvers.[10][11] In 2008 the town hall was judged one of the ten most spectacular in Britain by Architecture Today magazine.[12] Groups can visit the town hall by arrangement.[13]

Description

West elevation

Exterior

Structure

The building is detached and built of

steeple at the corner. There is a rusticated basement and two storeys above with arcades, columns and arches. Around the top of the walls there is a balustrade with finials. There is a metal roof with skylights. The steeple is 180 feet high, metal-covered and decorated by John Thomas with statues representing the four continents.[13] The entrance has a porch with an arch and balustrade with ball finials. The other entrances on the west side have old iron lamp standards and new lanterns, and one has an iron balustrade. This building should be understood in the context of the whole group of buildings in Crossley Street, which are all listed.[14]

24,000 tons of local Ringby sandstone from Swales Moor was used for the building. The portico has the old Halifax coat of arms over its arches, with the heads of Wisdom, Justice and Mercy.[1]

Tower and spire

Spire

This structure is 180 ft high, with a carved tile-effect on the spire. The four continent statues by John Thomas are as follows. Africa faces away from Crossley Street and consists of an ancient Egyptian and two boys. North America, above the tower portico, is a Native American with two small figures holding a paddle and a roll of tobacco. Europe, at the front of the tower in Crossley Street, has emblems of civilisation and refinement. After sculpting these, John Thomas died, and Asia was carved under the supervision of Daniel Maclise. Asia faces down Crossley Street, on the opposite side of the tower from the portico, and is a figure with a Chinese boy and tea chest and a child with flowers. On the corners of the spire are four seven-foot angels.[1]

Clock and bells

The tower contains five bells by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough, the largest of which weighs 3 tons. The bells have not rung at night since 1918 when Dame Nellie Melba complained that they disturbed her at Halifax's Princess Hotel.[1]

A chiming clock was installed in the tower by

Cambridge-chiming clock by Potts & Sons of Leeds in 1922, which was converted to automatic winding in 1965;[16] prior to this date the clocks had been hand-wound for over a century. The four clock faces have mottos carved over them, such as "Delay not to do well".[17]

Interior

Entrance stairwell

Inside there is a branching staircase; one wall painting is by Daniel Maclise who had previously worked with Charles Barry on the House of Commons, and two are by J. C. Worsley. The main hall is galleried with a stained glass roof. The council chamber was built in c. 1900 in the upper half of the old magistrates' court.[14] The Victoria Hall has mosaic flooring and ornate plasterwork.[12] The hall was last decorated in 1996.[1]

Victoria Hall

This is 51 ft by 43 ft by 43 ft high. The building's mansard roof incorporates a twelve-sectioned blue and green glass ceiling, surrounded by yellow painted glass coving, for this room.[1]

Ground floor

The ground floor is paved with stone,

Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom and Halifax arms.[1]

Victoria Hall: a glass-roofed atrium

The Calderdale coat of arms is carved above the doors, and above the doors painted ribs connect with the gallery balustrade above. The Committee Room with its decorated plaster ceiling leads off the ground floor hall.[1]

Gallery and upper hall

The balustrade is decorated with ironwork and the face of John the Baptist, because Halifax possibly means "holy face". There is a second gallery of doorways here, with decorative plaster panels above, and fluted pilasters between. There are repetitions of the "H" motif. Between the tops of the doors and the glass ceiling coving are cherubs supporting devices for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. One wall is mirrored to make the hall look longer, and all the arches have carvings above, representing the industry, the arts and law. There are photographs of past and present mayors of Calderdale on the wall.[1]

Council chamber

This leads off the gallery and was built over the high court room in 1901, taking the upper half of the room and its original stained glass ceiling. The centre of the glass ceiling has the pre-1948 coat of arms and, round the edge, are the four parts of the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom. The glass coving contains panels on the themes of justice and industry. The Calderdale arms is on the wall above the mayoral chair.[18]

Council chamber, 1901

The

genetic legacy.[18]

Mayor's Parlour

Accessed from the Victoria Hall gallery, this was originally designed as a reception room, so it has a grand, pink-painted, coffered ceiling, last painted in 1997. It is now the mayor's office and contains two oak mayoral chairs by Jackson of Coley, 1958 and 1960. The mace on the table came from Brighouse Town Hall after the council reorganisation of 1974. Some of the Calderdale official silver is displayed in this room, and it is carpeted by Sir John Crossley and Sons Ltd, because the company's namesake originally provided the land for the town hall, and financial backing. This room can sometimes be seen by appointment.[1]

Committee room D

Maclise painting in stairwell

This is next door to the Mayor's Parlour, and contains another pink, decorative ceiling, because it was originally designed as the council chamber. It was last decorated in 1997.[1]

Staircase

The staircase is lit by daylight through the blue glass dome above, but the tower, spire and bell chamber are adjacent; the bells resonate powerfully in the stairwell. There is ornamental plasterwork including gilt lion-heads on the second landing and arches around the three paintings on the first landing. These paintings, by J. C. Horsley and Daniel Maclise, were presented by Sir Savile Crossley in 1911, the coronation year of George V. The Maclise painting has an Arthurian theme, perhaps emphasising the moral connection made at the time between gothic revivalism and chivalry of local government. The lift beside the staircase contains doors at right angles to each other, due to awkward access.[1]

Basement

This was the police station and cells until 1900, when premises in Harrison Road became the police station. Now the basement contains store rooms, strong room and staff canteen, although original

Second World War. The basement is not open to the public.[1]

Picture gallery

  • Town hall in 2005
    Town hall in 2005
  • Town hall in 2006
    Town hall in 2006
  • Town hall in 2006
    Town hall in 2006
  • Town hall spire in 2007
    Town hall spire in 2007
  • Prince of Wales' chair, made 1863
    Prince of Wales' chair, made 1863
  • Victoria Hall, ground floor, created 1863
    Victoria Hall, ground floor, created 1863
  • Victoria Hall, glass ceiling panel, made 1863
    Victoria Hall, glass ceiling panel, made 1863
  • Committee room door panel made 1901, with face of John the Baptist
    Committee room door panel made 1901, with face of John the Baptist
  • Council Chambers
    Council Chambers
  • Mayor's Office
    Mayor's Office
  • Victoria Hall
    Victoria Hall
  • Stairs
    Stairs

More images

Exterior

Satellite

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Law and Administration Department (August 1998). Halifax Town Hall: a brief guide (Free leaflet). Town Hall, Halifax: Halifax Borough Council.
  2. ^ Historic England. "Town Hall (Grade II*) (1314024)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  3. OCLC 500274420
    .
  4. ^ a b Caldernet: Design and building of Town Hall.
  5. ^ From Weaver to Web: 19th century engraving of Town Hall, and history. Archived 6 November 2003 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ a b c The Holdsworths: The opening of the town hall in 1863.
  7. ^ "Royal Visit to Halifax 1937". The Yorkshire Film Archive. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  8. ^ The Holdsworths: Mention of 1958 film Room at the Top filmed in Town Hall and station. Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Halifax Town Hall: Application to Town Planning dept to double-glaze ground floor offices 1994–1995.
  10. ^ West Riding Woodcarvers Association: Overgate Hospice panel 2006. Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ West Riding Woodcarvers Association: Article on a modern woodcarving in the Town Hall, 2007.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ a b "Halifax Town Hall picked". Halifax Courier. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  13. ^ a b Tourist Net UK: Group visiting; contact details; clock tower description.
  14. ^ a b Historic England. "Halifax Town Hall (1314024)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  15. ^ Pickford, Chris, ed. (1995). Turret Clocks: Lists of Clocks from Makers' Catalogues and Publicity Materials (2nd ed.). Wadhurst, E. Sussex: Antiquarian Horological Society. p. 350.
  16. ^ Potts, Michael S. (2006). Potts of Leeds: Five Generations of Clockmakers. Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Mayfield Books. p. 227.
  17. ^ "Halifax Town Hall, West Yorkshire, the clock engraved above "Delay not to do well"". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  18. ^ a b Visible in the photographs shown in this article

External links

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