Todmorden Town Hall
| Todmorden Town Hall | |
|
Lancashire, Yorkshire | |
|---|---|
 Todmorden Town Hall | |
| Type: | Town hall |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SD93662417 |
| Location: | 53°42’50"N, 2°5’51"W |
| Town: | Todmorden |
| History | |
| Built 1875 | |
| By: | John Gibson |
| Town hall | |
| Neoclassical | |
| Information | |
Todmorden Town Hall is the town hall for Todmorden, standing on Halifax Road in the heart of the town, and right across the county border of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The town hall is the still meeting place of Todmorden Town Council.
This is a Victorian building, built in 1875 to the design of John Gibson, and is a grade I listed building.[1]
History
In the mid-19th century Todmorden experienced significant population growth associated with the increasing number of cotton mills in the town. In this context, in the early 1860s, the local board of health decided to procure a town hall: the site they selected straddled the Walsden Water, a tributary of the River Calder, which forms the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire. The board appointed local architect, James Green, as the designer for the project and construction got underway in 1866. However, after supplies of raw cotton from the United States were cut during the Lancashire Cotton Famine, due to the American Civil War of 1861–65, the project and its supporters got into financial difficulties.[2]
The Fielden family, who owned many of the cotton mills in the town, acquired the site, appointed John Gibson as the new architect and took over financial responsibility for the development. Work restarted in June 1871.[3] The building, which was designed in the neoclassical style, was built in ashlar stone and officially opened by the Postmaster General, Lord John Manners, on 3 April 1875.[1][4] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Halifax Road; there was rusticated basement with a plinth above. On the plinth there were blind niches in each of the bays with oculi above flanked by Composite order columns supporting an entablature with a frieze and a pediment. The 67-foot high pediment contained a finely carved tympanum which depicted two central female figures on a pedestal.[5] The left-hand sculpture represented Lancashire (cotton spinning and weaving industries), and the right-hand one Yorkshire (wool manufacturing, engineering and agriculture).[1] The side elevations contained seven bays in a similar style but with windows instead of niches and the rear elevation was curved and also contained windows instead of niches.[1] Internally, the principal rooms were the main hall which extended the full length of the building on the first floor and the courtroom below.[1]
The town hall, as did many of its age, contained function rooms and a dance hall: those attending would dance in the main hall, forward and back, across two counties.[6]
The Fielden family donated the building to the town on 6 August 1891.[7] The courtroom was adapted for use as a council chamber after the building became the headquarters of Todmorden Urban District Council in 1894 and of Todmorden Borough Council in 1896.[8][7]
The building continued to serve as a meeting place for Todmorden Borough Council for much of the 20th century until the council for which it was built was abolished in the 1970s, but it became instead the meeting place of the new town council.
Art
Works of art in the building include sculptures by Giovanni Maria Benzoni depicting the Flight from Pompeii[9] and Ruth of the eponymous Biblical book.[10]
There is also a bust of John Fielden MP by Thomas Campbell.[11] The hall also has memorial plinth by Gilbert Bayes.[12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 National Heritage List 1228980: Todmorden Town Hall (Grade II listing)
- ↑ "Celebrating the architects of Todmorden Town Hall". Calderdale Council. 24 September 2019. http://news.calderdale.gov.uk/celebrating-the-architects-of-todmorden-town-hall/.
- ↑ Law, Brian R. (1995). Fieldens of Todmorden: A Nineteenth Century Business Dynasty. George Kelsall. p. 180. ISBN 978-0946571260. https://books.google.com/books?id=hP0cAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA180.
- ↑ Fishwick, Henry (1889). History of the Parish of Rochdale in the County of Lancaster. J. Clegg. p. 109. https://books.google.com/books?id=zSNKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA109.
- ↑ "Todmorden Town Hall - about the venue". Calderdale Council. https://www.calderdale.gov.uk/v2/residents/leisure-and-culture/venues/todmorden-town-hall-bookings/todmorden-town-hall-about-venue.
- ↑ "Roses united". The Times. 15 August 2009. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/roses-united-b9t25vht6md.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Todmorden Town Hall". Visit Calderdale. https://www.visitcalderdale.com/attra-todmorden-town-hall.
- ↑ "Todmorden UD/MB". Vision of Britain. https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10000518.
- ↑ Benzoni, Giovanni Maria. "Flight from Pompeii". Art UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/flight-from-pompeii-252594.
- ↑ Benzoni, Giovanni Maria. "Biblical Ruth". Art UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/biblical-ruth-252595.
- ↑ Campbell, Thomas. "John Fielden (1784–1849), MP". Art UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/john-fielden-17841849-mp-252597.
- ↑ Bayes, Gilbert. "Memorial Plinth". Art UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/memorial-plinth-252592.
- Jackson, Christian; Morritt, David (1988). Todmorden Town hall: A History and Guide. Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council.
