Barnsley Town Hall is the seat of local government in the

Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley is a metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England; the main settlement is Barnsley and other notable towns include Penistone, Wombwell and Hoyland. The borough is bisected by the M1 motorway; it is rur ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Building

Design and construction

The site selected for the new building in Church Street had previously been occupied by a row of domestic properties. The foundation stone for the building was laid by Councillor Robert Plummer, a former mayor, on 21 April 1932. The facility, which was designed by Sir Arnold Thornely in the

classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

and built of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

at a cost of was £148,697, was officially opened by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

on 14 December 1933. The design included a large

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

distyle A distyle is a small temple-like structure with two columns. By extension, a distyle can also mean a distyle in antis, the original design of the Greek temple, where two columns are set between two antae. See also *Prostyle * Amphiprostyle *Per ...

with

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s on the first and second floors of the building as well as a high three-stage reducing central tower.

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

, in his book ''

The Road to Wigan Pier ''The Road to Wigan Pier'' is a book by the English writer George Orwell, first published in 1937. The first half of this work documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yor ...

'', was highly critical of this expenditure, and said that the council should have spent the money on improving the housing and living conditions of the local miners.

Museum

In June 2013, Experience Barnsley, a museum dedicated to the history of the town and its people, which had previously been based in the old Central Library, moved into a part of the town hall which had been designated the "Experience Barnsley Museum and Discovery Centre". Exhibits put on display include a 5,000 year old axe head which was found at the Scout Dyke Reservoir near

Penistone Penistone ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 22,909 at the 2011 census. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is west of Barnsley, n ...

in the 1920s.

Adjacent to the building

War memorial

The war memorial in front of the building, which predates the town hall, was sculpted by

John Tweed John Tweed (21 January 1869 – 12 November 1933) was a Scottish sculptor. Early life John Tweed was born at 16 Great Portland Street, Glasgow and studied at the Glasgow School of Art. He then trained with Hamo Thornycroft in London, and atten ...

and was unveiled at a ceremony attended by General Sir Charles Harington on 11 October 1925.

Barnsley Pals Centenary Square

In September 2013 the

Earl of Wessex Earl of Wessex is a title that has been created twice in British history – once in the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon nobility of England, and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In the 6th century AD the region of Wessex (the lands of the We ...

, officially opened the Barnsley Pals Centenary Square on the south side of the town hall, which commemorates the lives of the

Barnsley Pals The Barnsley Pals were two British Army Pals battalions during the First World War. They were formed as the 13th (1st Barnsley Pals) and 14th (2nd Barnsley Pals) Battalions of the York and Lancaster Regiment. These two Pals battalions were brig ...

who died in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Visitors

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the town hall and signed the visitors' book on 27 October 1954; the

Royal Standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, an ...

was flown from the mast on the central tower of the town hall during her visit.

References

External links

Experience BarnsleyBarnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
{{Authority control Government buildings completed in 1933 Buildings and structures in Barnsley City and town halls in South Yorkshire