Batley Town Hall
| Batley Town Hall | |
|
Yorkshire | |
|---|---|
 Batley Town Hall | |
| Type: | Town hall |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SE24312425 |
| Location: | 53°42’51"N, 1°37’60"W |
| Town: | Batley |
| History | |
| Built 1854 | |
| Town hall | |
| Neoclassical | |
| Information | |
Batley Town Hall stands in the Market Place in Batley in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]
History
The building, which was designed in the neoclassical style, was paid for by public subscription and opened as the local mechanics' institute in 1854.[1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto the Market Place; the central section of three bays, which slightly projected forward, featured a round-headed doorway with a fanlight flanked by engaged Ionic order columns; there was a balcony together with a projecting flagpole and three square-headed sash windows flanked by Ionic order pilasters on the first floor and there was a large pediment at roof evel.[1][2]
The building incorporated a public library and, like other mechanics institutes, it provided adult education, particularly in technical subjects, for working men.[3] Its activities led to the formation of the Batley Choral Society which continued to deliver performances into the early 20th century.[4]
After Batley was incorporated as a municipal borough in December 1868, the borough council initially met in a room on the first floor of the Wilton Arms Hotel in Commercial Street.[5][6] However, after finding this arrangement inadequate, civic leaders chose to lease and then acquire the former mechanics institute, which was only 350 yards away, as their new headquarters from 1874.[3]
In the 19th century the town hall defined the competition area for local sporting activities. The Heavy Woollen District Junior Cricket League Trophy was first competed for in 1883: competing teams, which came from the woollen mills and Sunday schools of the local area, were initially required to be located within a six-mile radius of the town hall: this requirement was subsequently relaxed and extended to an eighteen-mile radius of the building.[7][8]
After the town hall was badly damaged in a fire in September 1902, civic leaders initially considered a proposal to build a completely new structure but eventually decided to refurbish the existing building; the local firm of Walter Hanstock & Son, which duly carried out the works, was also responsible for an extension to the rear which included a council chamber, a mayor's parlour and council offices which opened in July 1905.[3][9]
The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of Batley Borough Council but it ceased to be the local seat of government when a wider 'Kirklees' council was created in 1974.[10]
The assembly hall on the first floor of the building continued to be used by the local community for concerts and theatrical productions.[11] A blue plaque commemorating the history of the building was unveiled by the Batley History Group in September 2019.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 National Heritage List 1300324: Batley Town Hall (Grade II listing)
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Yorkshire: The West Riding, 1959; 1967 Penguin Books ISBN isbn978-0-14-071017-5page 119
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "History of Batley Town Hall". Kirklees Council. https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/town-halls/pdf/batley-town-hall-history.pdf.
- ↑ "Foreign Notes". The Musical Times. 1910. pp. 44–46. https://www.jstor.org/stable/907531.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Take a bow, town hall". The Press. 27 September 2019. https://issuu.com/thepressnews10/docs/the_press___friday_september_27__2019.
- ↑ "Batley". Visitor UK. http://www.visitoruk.com/Bradford/batley-C592-V5376.html.
- ↑ "History of the Heavy Woollen". Heavy Woollen District Junior Cricket League. http://www.heavywoollen.org.uk/history.htm.
- ↑ "Heavy Woollen District Junior Cricket League". Play Cricket. http://heavywoollenjuniorlge.play-cricket.com/home.
- ↑ "Batley Baths". The Victorian Society. https://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/news/batley-baths.
- ↑ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
- ↑ "Batley Town Hall hosts haunting production". Batley and Birstall News. 12 July 2019. https://www.batleynews.co.uk/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/batley-town-hall-hosts-haunting-production-685157.
