ROCHDALE TOWN HALL
No surprise that it holds grade 1 listed status.
The town hall in Rochdale is one of the most ornate town halls in the country and, rumour has it, Adolf Hitler wanted to take it back to Germany brick by brick had he won the war! With a clock tower standing 191 ft, it dominated the town centre until the building of the new bus station and council offices, in the late 1970's, at the other end of the town centre.
The idea of building a new town hall came about when
Rochdale was granted the Royal Charter of Incorporation in 1856,
meaning Rochdale had become a Municipal Corporation. The new
council held its meetings in the Town Commissioners' Rooms, right. These rooms where on the
first floor above the town's fire station on Smith Street.
Although they were adequate, these rooms were seen by some to be
neither big enough or grand enough to carry out the towns
affairs.
As in all public office decisions, there were those for and those against. Alderman Ashworth was determined that Rochdale needed a new purpose built Town Hall were as Councilor E. Taylor was equally determined that the town did not need to go to such financial lengths as to build a new building. Alderman Ashworth eventually won and plans were laid down to find a suitable architect. A competition was set up and a prize of £100 was offered for the best design that stayed within a £20,000 budget. A design was accepted and the prize money paid to an architect from Leeds called WH Crossland.
Having chosen a design for the Town Hall the next thing to do was find a site to build it on. It would have to be central and easily accessible for, not only the construction vehicles, but also the council officials and, it was originally thought, traders who would be able to display their produce in the main entrance or Exchange (Although designed as an exchange, the entrance hall has never been used as one.) The site was chosen in September 1863, it was known locally as the 'Wood'. To prepare the site for construction a certain amount of 'clearing' needed to be done. This involved the demolition of the seventeenth century 'House in the Wood' and also Wood Cottage which was at the easterly end of the site at the foot of the bank which is now Broadfield Park.
Wood Cottage, Taken around 1860. In the
picture is a man to the right of the tree, this is Mr Hugh Taylor
the Superintendent of Rochdale Market, another figure, just about
visible in the corner where the house joins the small wall, is
his wife Margaret.
Work begins on the new Town Hall
Due to the size of the building and the diversity in the materials and skills required, numerous contracts had to be drawn up. The contract for the main building work went to Messrs. Warburton Bros. other contracts included Sculpture and Stone Carving (George Law, Rochdale), Wood Carving (Thomas Earp, London. Supervised by Edwin Hobbs), Coloured Glass (Heaton, Butterworth & Bain, London), Furniture (William Snowden, Rochdale), Joinery (Worth Brothers, London), Locks (Charles Smith & Sons, Birmingham), Ironmongery (J.H. King, Rochdale), Gas Fittings (Hodgekinson, Leicester & Poynton, Coventry), Clock* (Gilliet & Bland, Croydon), Bells** (Taylor & Co, Littleborough). As can be seen from all the firms above the building of the town hall was not reserved for local firms.
* This was the old clock. The new (present) clock was made by Messrs. Potts & Sons, Leeds
** Taylor & Co in Littleborough made both the old and new (present) sets of bells
The foundation stone was laid by the Rt. Hon. John Bright MP on 31st March 1866. For the ceremony the Mr Bright was presented with a silver, ivory handled trowel. As soon as the building work started the area surrounding the Town Hall was cleared and landscaped to provide a suitable setting for the new building and by the end of 1868 the seventy feet wide Esplanade had been laid out. The building work was finished and the Town Hall opened in 1871. The final cost was slightly over the original £20,000 budget. In fact it ran over budget by just under £135,000. The Town Hall had cost the people of Rochdale £154,755 9s 11d, in the 1860's that was no small amount! The architect's commission on completion came to £10,329 6s 2d.
The finished Town Hall 1871, situated on the newly created Esplanade, with the Parish church on the hill behind.
Last updated 19/11/02