Batley Town Hall is a municipal facility in the Market Place in

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The building, which was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, was paid for by public subscription and opened as the local

mechanics' institute Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult edu ...

in 1854. 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 A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

flanked by engaged

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns; there was a balcony together with a projecting flagpole and three square-headed

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s flanked by Ionic order

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s on the first floor and there was a large

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

at roof level. The building incorporated a public library and, like other mechanics institutes, it provided adult education, particularly in technical subjects, for working men. Its activities led to the formation of the Batley Choral Society which continued to deliver performances into the early 20th century. 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. However, after finding this arrangement inadequate, civic leaders chose to lease and then acquire the former mechanics institute, which was only away, as their new headquarters from 1874. In the 19th century the town hall defined the competition area for local sporting activities. The

Heavy Woollen District The Heavy Woollen District is a region of textile-focused industrial development in West Yorkshire, England. It acquired the name because of the heavyweight cloth manufactured there from the early 19th century. The district is made up of parts o ...

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. 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. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of Batley Borough Council but it ceased to be the local seat of government on the formation of the enlarged

Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It is governed by Kirkle ...

in 1974. The assembly hall on the first floor of the building continued to be used by the local community for concerts and theatrical productions. A blue plaque commemorating the history of the building was unveiled by the Batley History Group in September 2019.

References

{{City and town halls in West Yorkshire Government buildings completed in 1854 City and town halls in West Yorkshire Grade II listed buildings in West Yorkshire Batley Grade II listed government buildings

History

See also

References