Barrow-in-Furness Town Hall is a

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

municipal building Municipal Building may refer to the following places: United States Arkansas *Crossett Municipal Building, Crossett, AR, List of RHPs in AR, listed on the NRHP in Arkansas *Municipal Building (El Dorado, Arkansas), El Dorado, AR, List of RHPs in A ...

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, England. The building, which serves as the base of

Barrow Borough Council Barrow-in-Furness is a local government district with borough status in Cumbria, England. It is named after its main town, Barrow-in-Furness. Other settlements include Dalton-in-Furness and Askam-in-Furness. It is the smallest district in the ...

, lies within a

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

with

Grade II* listed 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 ...

status.

History

In the mid-19th century, Barrow was little more than a small fishing village. However, after the discovery of iron ore in local mountains and the establishment of a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

in the town, the area became a

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

in 1867. In 1877 architects were invited to submit proposals for a large civic building in Barrow which would represent the growth and current stature of the town. Irish-born architect, William Henry Lynn had the winning design that began construction in 1882. The building was constructed almost entirely from local

Hawcoat Hawcoat is an area and electoral ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it is one of Barrow's most northerly wards and is bordered by Roose, Newbarns, Parkside, Ormsgill and the town of Dalton-in-Furness ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

with

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

for the roof. At tall, it became one of the tallest buildings in Barrow. Financial constraints alongside changes to the design were the reason that construction did not commence immediately after selection of the design. In 1885 the building was almost complete, however cracks were found in areas of the building and the clock tower had to be completely demolished and rebuilt. This was most likely the result of the contractors trying to cut costs by using sub-standard stone. Despite these initial troubles, the town hall was finally complete in 1886 and was officially opened on 14 July 1887 by

Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire, (23 July 183324 March 1908), styled Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1834 and 1858 and Marquess of Hartington between 1858 and 1891, was a British statesman. He has the distinction of having ...

to coincide with the

Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 and 21 June 1887 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, and a banquet to which ...

. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the municipal borough council for much of the 20th century and remained a meeting place for the enlarged

Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

which was formed in 1974.

Architecture

External

The

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

listing of Barrow Town Hall describes the external architecture as: ''Snecked red sandstone with ashlar dressings, graduated slate roofs. 3 storeys and attic with 6-stage tower; 1:1:5:2:4:1:1 bays in near symmetrical composition. Bays 2 & 14 have oriel bay windows corbelled over ground floor; the 2-bay section is occupied by the tower. Gothic Revival style with Geometrical tracery''.

Internal

The ground floor entrance hall consists of a reception and information desk alongside photos of

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 her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and The Duke of Edinburgh who visited the town hall in 1956. There is also a plaque commemorating the centenary of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness which was unveiled in 1967 by

The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

. The largest room within the town hall is the Queen's Hall. A number of stained glass panels have been added to windows in the Queen's Hall that feature local dignitaries and aspects of Barrow's shipbuilding and steelworks industries. Also on the first floor are the Council Chambers, the former Press and Public Galleries, the Drawing Room, the Ante Room and a large public Banquet Hall. Works of art in the town hall include portraits depicting

William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire, (27 April 1808 – 21 December 1891), styled as Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1831 and 1834 and known as Earl of Burlington between 1834 and 1858, was a British landowner, benefactor, nobleman, ...

and Lord Frederick Cavendish.

Plazas

The town hall's main

plaza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

is to the exterior of the building, which has led to many incorrectly believing that the building was built 'back to front'. Two large plazas are situated either side of the town hall. They are often focal points for mass local celebrations and events, examples being

Barrow A.F.C. Barrow Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club plays in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English league system. Since 1909, Barrow have played their home games at ...

and

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club. For the 1995–96 and 1996 seasons the club was known as Barrow Braves, becoming the Ba ...

victories as well as the annual

Christmas lights Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights) are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom goe ...

switch-on. Town Square, originally known as Cavendish Square, to the north is framed by the town hall itself and the

Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

, until the turn of the 21st century vehicular traffic ran through Town Square until it was entirely pedestrianised. The rear of the town hall is landscaped and includes the statue of Lord Frederick Cavendish which was originally in the centre of Town Square.

Gallery

File:Barrow Town Hall, Cumbria, NWE.jpg, The back of the town hall and tower File:The Town Hall at Barrow-in-Furness - geograph.org.uk - 1513512.jpg, Main entrance to the town hall File:The Town Hall at Barrow-in-Furness - geograph.org.uk - 1512056.jpg, Rear entrance to the town hall File:Barrow town hall, April 2011.jpg, South facade seen from Schneider Square File:The Town Hall at Barrow-in-Furness - geograph.org.uk - 1512060.jpg, Stained glass window bearing local coat of arms File:The Town Hall at Barrow-in-Furness - geograph.org.uk - 1513505.jpg, Bust of Queen Victoria inside the town hall File:The Town Hall at Barrow-in-Furness - geograph.org.uk - 1512057.jpg, Carving of a battle scene inside the town hall

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrow-In-Furness Town Hall

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

City and town halls in Cumbria Grade II* listed buildings in Cumbria Tourist attractions in Barrow-in-Furness Gothic Revival architecture in Cumbria William Henry Lynn buildings Government buildings completed in 1886 1886 establishments in England