Cleckheaton Town Hall
Cleckheaton Town Hall
LocationBradford Road, Cleckheaton
Coordinates53°43′29″N 1°42′41″W / 53.7248°N 1.7115°W / 53.7248; -1.7115
Built1892
ArchitectMawson & Hudson
Architectural style(s)Queen Anne style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameTown Hall
Designated11 June 1980
Reference no.1313688
Cleckheaton Town Hall is located in West Yorkshire
Cleckheaton Town Hall
Shown in West Yorkshire

Cleckheaton Town Hall is a municipal building in Bradford Road, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Spenborough Urban District Council, is a Grade II listed building.[1]

History

The foundation stone at the town hall

After significant population growth in the second half of the 19th century, particularly associated with carding (disentangling fibres) for the textile industry, civic leaders decided to procure a town hall to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria: the site they selected had been occupied by a school and some residential properties on the north side of Church Street.[2]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by William Anderton of Elm Bank on 21 June 1890.[3] It was designed by Mawson & Hudson of Bradford in the Queen Anne style and was built at a cost of £13,900, which was financed, in part, by public subscription.[3] It was officially opened by the Chairman of the Town Hall Committee, Joseph Law, on 10 February 1892.[3][4] A plaque was subsequently placed in the room adjacent to the assembly hall to commemorate the life of Elymas Wadsworth, Law's predecessor, who had chaired the committee throughout the development stage of the town hall.[5]

The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with four bays facing onto Bradford Road; the right hand of the two central bays featured a steep flight of steps leading up to an arched doorway with a square clock tower above.[1] The end bay on the left featured an Ipswich window on the first floor with a gable above, while the end bay on the right, which projected forward, featured a small stone balcony with two tall sash windows and a flagpole on the second floor within the gable.[1] Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber and the assembly hall, the latter of which featured a proscenium arch.[3] The Cambridge-chiming clock was designed and manufactured by Potts of Leeds and the bells were cast by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough.[3]

The building became the headquarters of Cleckheaton Urban District Council, when it was formed in 1894, and of the enlarged Spenborough Urban District Council, when it was established in 1915.[6] On 20 May 1926, the town hall was the venue for an important speech by the future leader of the National Liberal Party, Sir John Simon, who called for unity in the wake of the collapse of the General Strike: he said the British people should "retrace the false steps and acknowledge a grievous error ".[7]

After the council was granted a charter of incorporation in July 1955, the town hall became the headquarters of the new municipal borough.[8] However, it ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Kirklees Council was formed in 1974.[9] A stained glass window which depicted the coat of arms of Spenborough was installed in the town hall after the council was abolished.[10][11] The town hall became a regular venue for the annual Cleckheaton Folk Festival which promoted local musical and literary initiatives after it was launched in 1988.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Historic England. "Town Hall (1313688)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1890. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e "History of Cleckheaton Town Hall" (PDF). Kirklees Council. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  4. ^ Harman, Ruth; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2017), Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 174, ISBN 978-0-300-22468-9
  5. ^ Peel, Frank (1893). Spen Valley, Past and Present. Senior & Co. p. 874.
  6. ^ Youngs, Frederic A Jr. (1991). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. Vol. II Northern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-86193-127-0.
  7. ^ Kingsley Kent, Susan (2008). Aftershocks: Politics and Trauma in Britain, 1918-1931. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 145. ISBN 978-1403993335.
  8. ^ "Court Circular". The Times. 30 July 1955. p. 8.
  9. ^ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
  10. ^ "Cleckheaton". Kirklees Curiosities. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  11. ^ Goodhart, A. L. (1 February 1927). "The Legality of the General Strike in England". The Yale Law Journal. 36 (4). The Yale Law Journal Company: 464–485. doi:10.2307/789636. JSTOR 789636.
  12. ^ "Why Cleckheaton is becoming a major festival town for the arts". Great British Life. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
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