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