Halifax Town Hall

 

A detail of the tower at Halifax Town Hall

Continuing my exploration of the historic architecture of Halifax, I walked along Princess Street to Crossley Street, where The Grade II* listed Halifax Town Hall (1863) forms the focal point of a part of Halifax that was redeveloped in the second half of the C19, with several buildings being described by Historic England as forming an important group. 

 

A view along Princess Street to Halifax Town Hall

 

My first impression was that, unlike other town halls in Leeds, Morley, Dewsbury and Ossett which have I have visited, the site is really quite cramped and prompted Pevsner to write "The site is too congested to take the building in as a monument of self-confident High Victorianism". 

 

A view of Halifax Town Hall from the south-east

 

The site was provided by Alderman John Crossley, one of the three brothers who were operating the largest carpet factory in the world at Dean Clough - John Crossley and Sons. He had already been developing Princess Street and Crossley Street, with the Bradford based architects Lockwood and Mawson and this probably explains the lack of surrounding space. 

 

The tower of Halifax Town Hall

 

In 1856, there were proposals by John Crossley for a Neoclassical design by Lockwood and Mawson, another by his rival Edward Akroyd in a Gothic Revival style by Sir George Gilbert Scott and also a design by the Borough Engineer, G.W. Stevenson but in 1859, following arguments between them, Crossley and Akroyd withdrew their designs. 

 

A view of the portico and west elevation

 

Sir Charles Barry, who had acted in a similar capacity at Leeds Town Hall, was invited to offer his advice but, not liking any of the designs, he submitted his own instead and this was accepted by the committee, despite being considerably more expensive. 

 

The central section of the south elevation

 

The building was designed to house the court, police station, prison cells and all the council offices and the original £20,000 estimate spiralled to an eventual cost of £50,126, with this including the supply of 24,000 tons of Elland Flags sandstone from the Ringby quarries at Swales Moor. 

 

A detail of the central section of the south elevation

 

Edward Middleton Barry was appointed to assist his father and, when Sir Charles died in 1860 shortly after the work commenced stone, he saw the project through to its completion. The opening ceremony on 3 and 4 August 1863 was attended by Prince Albert Edward, the future King Edward VII, when the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway laid on 358 trains to bring visitors to Halifax. 

 

A detail of the tower

 

The architectural sculptor John Thomas, who had worked with Sir Charles Barry on the Houses of Parliament (1835-60), was responsible for the elaborate decoration to the tower, west portico and the surrounds to the window arches. 

 

A detail of an arch on the central section of the south elevation

 

With my day out to Halifax undertaken on the August Bank Holiday, I didn't have the opportunity to look at the interior and had to be content with taking a few quick photographs of the exterior and architectural sculpture before continuing with my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge. 

 

A detail of the west portico

 

An Exploration of Halifax - Part 2

A detail of the Burton Buildings

 

Continuing my exploration of the historic architecture of Halifax, having visited Halifax Minster and the Piece Hall, the next building that I wanted to see was Halifax Town Hall (1863) which, like many others in the textile producing centres in West Yorkshire, was built as an expression of civic pride – exemplified by Leeds Town Hall, but as I had also seen in Morley, Dewsbury and Ossett. 

 

A view along Corn Market

Walking along Russell Street to Corn Market and then continuing north to the junction with Crown Street and Old Market, I stopped to take in the view of the tower of the town hall that I could see at the far end of Princess Street.

 

A view along Princess Street

On the corner of Princess Street and Old Market are the steel framed Burton Buildings (1932), which like the vast majority of these truly iconic Art Deco style shops – typically with a snooker hall and sometimes a dance floor above – is not a listed building. 

The Burton Buildings

 

The upper floors are clad in Portland stone, with a white faience zig zag patterned band course separating them and travertine used for the ground floor pilasters and panelling. There are many fine Art Deco details, including stylised elephants and the pediments to both elevations have the distinctive Montague Burton logo in raised lettering.

 

Stylised elephants on the Burton Buildings

Turning my attention to the British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge that I had prepared, I went to find the handful of buildings that not yet been photographed in this part of Halifax town centre, which was largely redeveloped during the second half of the C19 when the town hall was built.

 

No. 2 Crown Street

On the corner of Princess Street and Crown Street, No. 2 Crown Street is a mid/later C19 building in the Classical style which, together with the adjoining No. 1 Princess Street, the White Swan Hotel, Princess Buildings, all the listed buildings in Crossley Street, No. 2 Wade Street and Nos. 12 to 33 Northgate, are considered by Historic England (HE) to form an important group of buildings.

 

No. 1 Princess Street

Continuing along Princess Street, I stopped briefly to take a few photos of the Grade II* listed White Swan Hotel (1858), which HE thinks might be by Smith and Parnell and Pevsner describes as being in the Mixed Renaissance style.

The door surround of the White Swan Hotel

 

I didn't get near enough to examine the uniformly buff coloured sandstone used for any of the buildings on Princess Street, but from my photographs I can see that the sandstone is quite massive and fine to medium grained.

 

The pediment above the main door to the White Swan Hotel

Looking at the fine architectural sculpture above the main door and on the pediment above, which includes swans, figures, rosettes, a coat of arms and floriated detailing, it is quite obvious that this is not local Rough Rock, which in Halifax is coarse grained and pebbly and, as with the Borough Market and the Old Arcade, I thought that it might be Huddersfield stone from Crosland Moor.

 

A view of the elevation above the main door to the White Swan Hotel

According to my copy of the Building sandstones of the British Isles by Elaine Leary, however, Ringby stone from the Elland Flags in the Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation has been used for the White Swan Hotel and Halifax Town Hall.

 

Ringby Stone in the Building sandstones of the British Isles

When investigating the historic architecture of Headingley, Headingley Hill and the area around Granary Wharf in Leeds earlier in the year, I had seen sandstone from the local Elland Flags used in listed buildings and boundary walls and it has a very distinctive yellowish colour - also a feature of the walling stone at the Piece Hall, which is easily distinguished from the Rough Rock dressings.

 

Some West Yorkshire sandstones

As illustrated by Bolton Woods stone, which was originally named the Gaisby Rock but is now considered to be part of the Elland Flags, this sandstone can be buff coloured and quite massive and thickly bedded. Being unfamiliar with the variation in the Elland Flags around Halifax, which would need another visit to further investigate, I continued on to Crossley Street to have a closer look at the town hall and the other listed buildings on this street.

 

Listed buildings included in my Photo Challenge

 

An Exploration of Halifax - Part 1

 

The Duke of Wellington's Regiment Memorial

My main reason for visiting Halifax was to continue my investigation of mediaeval churches at Halifax Minster, but I was also very interested in seeing its historic buildings, which like Huddersfield reflects its prosperity at the height of the textile manufacturing industry here. Although most of the buildings in the town centre had been photographed by others, I had prepared a British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge that would give me a good introduction to the town. 

 

Listed buildings in the centre of Halifax

 

Leaving Halifax bus station and heading down Wade Street, the early C19 former Syon Congregational Church, with its Greek Doric columns supporting an entablature and plain frieze, now forms part of the recent award winning refurbishment of the station. 

 

The former Syon Congregational Church

 

From the end of Wade Street, I continued down Winding Street and turned down King Street to Duffy's Park, where Halifax Cenotaph is now sited, having been moved from its original location in Belle Vue Park c.1980 on the west side of Halifax. 

 

Halifax Cenotaph

 

Designed by the architect H. Scott Davis and buiIt with a medium grained gritstone, this was not part of my Photo Challenge but, since being commissioned by the National Inventory of War Memorials to photograph several war memorials in Lancashire back in 1994, I always photograph those that I encounter on my travels. 

 

A detail of Halifax Cenotaph

 

After spending just 50 minutes having a look around the exterior and interior of Halifax Minster, I proceeded to the east end of the churchyard. From here I had a view of the railway viaduct, the Grade II listed Bailey Hall Mill (1879) – which was built as a flour mill and is now occupied by Nestlé UK - and the landscape to the east. 

 

A view towards the railway viaduct and Bailey Hall Mill

 

Making my way back to the town centre, the Grade I listed Piece Hall (1779) by Thomas Bradley was my next stopping point, but again it wasn't part of my Photo Challenge. I had visited this wonderful cloth market several years earlier during a very brief visit to Halifax to see Dean Clough, when I spent time having a look at the individual trading rooms, but on this occasion I just took a few general photos. 

 

The north entrance to the Piece Hall

 

Historic England (HE) state that it is built with fine grained sandstone, which was presumably obtained from quarries working the Elland Flags to the east of Halifax, although the massive dressings, columns and lintels are made with Rough Rock. 

Views of the Piiece Hall

I didn't spent any time examining the stonework, but I can see from my photo of the north entrance that the walling is yellowish, thinly bedded Elland Flags sandstone and it strongly contrasts with the stone used for the door surrounds. 

 

The quarry face above the site of the former Beacon Fireclay Works

Taking a moment to look at the high ground that rises steeply to the east of the Hebble Brook, I could see a face of the old quarry that worked the mudstone beneath the Elland Flags to supply the raw material for the Beacon Fireclay Works. 

 

The Duke of Wellington's Regiment Memorial

 

Making my way through the Woolshops shopping centre to Woolshops and continuing up to Market Street, I came across the Duke of Wellington's Regiment Memorial, which was made by Andrew Sinclair - a sculptor whose work I had not seen before. 

 

Halifax Conservation Area

Since arriving in Halifax, I had not left the town centre Conservation Area and the area around Market Street had been densely developed by the time the 1854 Ordnance Survey map was published. Looking around me, although many of the Victorian buildings were demolished in the C20, I could still see many examples of fine architectural sculpture. 

 

The 1854 Ordnance Survey map of Halifax town centre

My day out to Halifax was undertaken on the August Bank Holiday, when the buses between Treeton and Sheffield operated a Sunday service, so I was very conscious that at 1 o'clock in the afternoon I hadn't even started my Photo Challenge consisting of 40 listed buildings. 

 

The entrance to the Borough Market

Nonetheless, I was very curious to have a quick look at the Borough Market on Russell Street, considered by HE to have been built in 1895 to a design by Leeming and Leeming, and the Old Arcade, which HE surprisingly says is only probably by the same architects – even though their façades quite obviously mirror each other. 

 

The entrance to the Old Market

From the photograph that I took of the inscription at the entrance of the Old Arcade, I can see that the sandstone used here is medium grained and uniformly buff in colour. It is quite unlike the coarse grained and often pebbly Rough Rock that I had seen at Halifax Minster or the yellowish Elland Flags at the Piece Hall and it wouldn't surprise me if it was obtained from one of the quarries at Crosland Hill in Huddersfield.

 

The inscription at the Russell Street entrance to the Old Market

 

Halifax Minster - The Interior Part 2

 

Frosterley marble used for the altar steps in the chancel

Continuing my exploration of the interior of Halifax Minster, the walls of the north aisle are again adorned with a variety of wall memorials that include ‘white on black’ varieties made with white Carrara marble and what I think is probably Carboniferous Limestone, with alabaster used for some of the simple memorials. 

 

Wall memorials along the north aisle

 

I just took a few general photographs of these and crossed back to the south side of the Minster to have a quick look at the Holdsworth Chapel, where the highlight was the grave slab of Thomas Haldsworth (d.1709) and members of his family. 

 

Views of the Holdsworth Chapel

 

Next to this is the simple wall memorial to the preacher Oliver Heywood (d.1702), which was erected in June 1906. Unlike the other memorials that I had see in the Minster, this is made with a polished granite that looks like it could be the Scottish Kemnay granite from Aberdeenshire. 

 

The memorial to Oliver Heywood

 

Moving further along the south aisle, the memorial to William Rawson (d.1828) is described by Pevsner as a “Relief of the Good Samaritan”, without actually mentioning Rawson – who was a partner in Rawson’s bank. According to Malcolm Bull’s Calderdale Companion, this was made by Richard Westmacott Junior, who Pevsner describes as the maker of the memorial of his nephew, John Markland Rawson. 

 

The memorial to William Rawson

 

Continuing to the Wellington Chapel, which was rededicated in 1951 to the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, but I didn’t take much notice of the stone used - gritstone from the Rough Rock – for the walling and the arcade. 

 

The arcade of the Wellington Chapel

 

A war memorial slab is set into the flagstones and its distinctly green colour suggests that this is made of volcanic green slate from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group in the Lake District, although I didn’t take a close look at it and just took record photographs
 

The war memorial slab in the Wellington Chapel

The altar at the east end of the chapel is made of limestone, but I again didn’t closely inspect the stone but, enlarging the photograph that I took, the paving that immediately surrounds it looks like it contains some crinoid ossicles, which is a characteristic of Derbyshire ‘fossil marble’. 

 

The altar in the Wellington Chapel

Moving into the chancel, the floor has a chequerboard pattern, with squares of white Carrara marble and Carboniferous Limestone, which is probably from Belgium. This combination is quite commonly seen in later Victorian churches and mediaeval churches that were restored during this period and the floor was probably laid during Sir George Gilbert Scott’s restoration of 1878. 

 

The flooring and altar steps in the chancel

 

The steps to the altar are made with another Carboniferous Limestone, this time Frosterley marble from County Durham. It is characterised by an abundance of solitary corals, Dibunophyllum bipartitum, which I have seen in a few churches and at the Hob’s House landslip at Monsal Dale in the Peak District National Park. 

 

A detail of the Frosterley marble used for the altar steps

Set into the paving of the chancel, which is very probably flaggy sandstone from the nearby Elland Flags formation, is a memorial to George Horsfall Frodsham (d.1937), who was the Bishop of North Queensland from 1902 to 1913 and the vicar of Halifax from 1920 until his death. 

 

The memorial to George Horsfall Frodsham

 

Being conscious that I still had to complete my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, which would entail a good walk around Halifax, I just took a few record photographs of the nave, the arcades and a few details of the columns. 

 

Views of the arcades and columns

 

I had a very brief look around the Rokeby Chapel, which was built in memory of William Rokeby - the vicar from 1502 to 1521 and the Archbishop of Dublin - and has inscribed slabs commemorating Mary Midgley (d.1704), which also has a coat of arms in shallow relief, and John Waterhouse (d.1732), his wife Ellen and their children.

 

Memorials to Mary Midgley and John Waterhouse and his family

 

Making my way back along the north aisle, I stopped briefly to take a photograph of another ‘white on black’ wall memorial to John Waterhouse (d.1847) and his wife Grace (d.1849), which has intricately carved crocketed pinnacles, cinquefoil arches, floriated capitals, a coat of arms and carved heads, but are not mentioned in the reference sources that I have access to. 

 

The memorial to John Waterhouse

 

I finished my brief look at the interior of Halifax Minster, which took just 30 minutes, at the west end of the north aisle where I noticed a reset block with chevrons, which would have come from the original C12 church. The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland notes that the fieldworker found four of these, although many more are mentioned in the literature. 

 

A block of reset C12 masonry with chevrons