 |
| A grotesque at St. Mary's church on Gibbet Street |
Leaving the People’s Park at the north-east entrance on Park Road, I turned down Hopwood Lane and the building on the corner with Margaret Street immediately caught my eye – Sir Francis Crossley’s Almshouses (1855) by Roger Ives, who also designed the Joseph Crossley Almshouses (1863).
 |
| The Sir Francis Crossley Almshouses |
This was not part of my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge and I just took a single photograph that shows the principal features of its Tudor Gothic style, as described by Historic England (HE), including a castellated tower and turret, mullioned and transomed windows and prominent chimney stacks.
 |
| Crossley House |
Immediately next to this is Crossley House (1857), which was built as the private residence of Sir Francis Crossley in a later C17/early C18 French style by G.H. Stokes, who was the assistant of Sir Joseph Paxton and designed the Crossley Pavilion. The house was sold to the Halifax Corporation and then used as a public library and museum, but it is now a wedding venue and I just took a single photograph through the railings before continuing along Hopwood Lane.
 |
| Views of the former Park Congregational Church |
From the entrance of No. 56 Hopwood Lane, I got a view of the east elevation of the former Park Congregational Church (1869), which is largely obscured by the mature trees in its grounds and I didn’t get a good view of this or get close enough to take a look at the stone used – as was the case with the Crossley House and the Sir Francis Crossley Almshouses.
 |
| The south eelvation |
According to the Halifaxpeople.com website, the architect Roger Ives also designed the church, which was built on land purchased by Sir Francis Crossley, who also donated £1000 to the building cost and laid the foundation stone in 1867. The press cutting reproduced on this website states that the stone was obtained from one of the many quarries working the Elland Flags in the village of Southowram, which is set on the hills to the east of Halifax.
 |
| The 1854 Ordnance Survey map showing Bellevue Hall |
Looking at the 1854 Ordnance Survey map, apart from a few large houses with spacious grounds, including Bellevue Hall which Sir Francis Crossley purchased and incorporated into Crossley Hall, the area – now included in the People’s Park Conservation Area - was mainly rural and was radically transformed by the philanthropy of the Crossley family.
 |
| The mortuary chapel in the Lister Lane Cemetery |
The next building on my Photo Challenge was the early/mid C19 mortuary chapel in the Lister Lane Cemetery but, arriving at the Gibbet Street entrance, I found that the gates were locked and I was only able to take a photo from a distance.
 |
| St. Mary's Roman Catholic church on Gibbet Street |
Continuing along Gibbet Street, I wasn’t aware that on its north side is yet another example of John Crossley’s generosity - the West Hill Park model housing estate (1868) designed by Paull and Ayliff - and I carried on until I reached St. Mary’s Roman Catholic church (1839).
 |
| A detail of St. Mary's church |
This is not a listed building, but it is another example of the use of sandstone from the Elland Flags and has some interesting architectural sculpture above the entrance, which includes a relief carving of the Madonna and winged beasts on the cornice above.
 |
| The Halifax Gibbet |
A little further along the road is the Halifax Gibbet, where a replica of this early type of guillotine stands on its original sandstone base. The accompanying information board provides an interesting account of its history and suggests that it was apparently unique in the country, with HE assigning a date of probably C17 or earlier.
 |
| The information board at the Halifax Gibbet |
Approaching the crossing of Burdock Way, I was interested to see the Halifax Elim Pentecostal church (1972), by C.S. Oldfield, which has a striking ‘corrugated’ copper roof and cladding with what appears to be Portland stone, but I didn't have a close look at the building.
 |
| The Halifax Elim Pentecostal church |
Making my way back through Halifax town centre to the bus station, the last building on my Photo Challenge was Nos. 18-22 Northgate, but I discovered that these C19 houses have been demolished and replaced by the Northgate House development, which is clad in a sandstone that I have never encountered before.
 |
| Northgate House |
No comments:
Post a Comment