The Piece Hall is a Grade I
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 I ...
in
Halifax,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
, England. It was built as a
cloth hall
A cloth hall or linen hall (german: Gewandhaus; pl, Sukiennice; french: Halle aux draps; nl, Lakenhal) is a historic building located in the centre of the main marketplace of a European town. Cloth halls were built from medieval times into the 18 ...
for
handloom weavers to sell the woollen cloth "pieces" they had produced.
History
The earliest known reference to the new Piece Hall was a handbill dated 19 March 1774, although this no longer survives. The hall was built for "the purpose of depositing and exposing to sale the
worsted
Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham ...
and woolen goods manufactured in this town and neighbourhood". It was seen that bringing merchants and buyers together in one place would create a more competitive and efficient market and discourage fraudsters. Initially, two sites were proposed, one at Talbot Croft and the other at Cross Field (which was used in 1948 for the construction of the new
bus station
A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...
). After consideration, Talbot Croft was chosen and was purchased in September 1774.
It opened on 1 January 1779, with 315 separate rooms arranged around a central open courtyard.
The architect of Piece Hall has never been identified, and there is a lack of documentary evidence surrounding its design and construction; F. A. Leyland cited Thomas Bradley as the most likely architect in 1887, although others have suggested Samuel and John Hope and
John Carr.
An 1831 description of Piece Hall says:
The
industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
saw a shift away from small producers and traders, with new larger mills in the Halifax area trading directly with merchants and exporters. After years of decline, the Piece Hall was acquired from the trustees in 1868 by Halifax Corporation. They converted it into a wholesale market hall and some of the small rooms were combined to make larger shop units; cellars were created and the south pedestrian gate was enlarged to allow vehicles to enter the courtyard with Iron Gates installed over the entrance (supplied by George Smith of the Sun Foundry,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
for £120). Sheds and latrines were constructed in the courtyard.
In 1971, after the Piece Hall had become seen as unsuitable for a wholesale market, the businesses were dispersed elsewhere throughout the town and demolition of the then two-century-old building was considered. Government grants were made available and the Halifax Corporation received funding to make the building a tourist attraction. The sheds that had been built in the 19th century were demolished and the courtyard landscaped; further, walls were removed from the original rooms to create shops, and a new museum–art gallery was opened on the east side. The new Piece Hall opened on 3 July 1976. The museum–art gallery closed in 1998.
In 2010, the
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
awarded
Calderdale Council
Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. The council styles itself Calderdale Council. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshir ...
first round funding to restore and redevelop the Piece Hall.
The Piece Hall reopened on 1 August 2017, after a £19 million restoration project started in 2014.
The Piece Hall hosted its first major music event with
Father John Misty headlining.
Piece Hall Trust has been set up as a charity responsible for managing the Piece Hall.
Listing
The Piece Hall was
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
on 3 November 1954 and has Grade I listed protection. Reasons for the listing were given as:
* Historic interest: citing the scale and architectural grandeur and its illustration of the wealth of Halifax at the time of its construction.
* Rarity: citing the rarity of surviving purpose built cloth halls.
* Architectural interest: citing its dramatic design, its detailed galleries and courtyard as well as a high degree of craftsmanship and the high quality of materials used
* Architectural layout: citing the courtyard plan but the provision of individual rooms to enable confidentiality in transactions. Despite the combination of some rooms internally the building remains externally unchanged and "visually readable".
See also
*
Grade I listed buildings in West Yorkshire
*
Listed buildings in Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a town in the metropolitan borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It contains 254 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, three are listed at Grade I, the highest of the ...
References
Further reading
*
Gatje, Robert F. ''Great Public Squares: An Architect’s Selection'', Norton, 2010.
External links
Piece Hall website
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures in Halifax, West Yorkshire
Grade I listed buildings in West Yorkshire
Tourist attractions in Calderdale