Salford Town Hall is a structure in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

which was once the municipal building of

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, and shortly afterwards also became a court. Following the abolition of the County Borough of Salford it continued to function as Salford

Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

until 2011, when that body merged with the equivalent court of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to form the Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court. The property is now owned privately. 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 ...

, having been so designated on 31 January 1952.

History

The foundation stone for the town hall was laid by Lord Bexley,

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

in April 1825. The square in which the building now stands was named after him. It was designed by Richard Lane in the

Neo-classical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

and completed in 1827. The building, which was originally constructed as a market hall, became the Salford's town hall in 1835 and, additionally, a courthouse in 1840. The building was expanded three times in the nineteenth century. In January 1878 it was the place where local hero

Mark Addy Mark Ian Addy (born 14 January 1964) is an English actor. His roles in British television include Detective Constable Gary Boyle in the sitcom '' The Thin Blue Line'' (1995–1996) and Hercules in the fantasy drama series ''Atlantis'' (2013–2 ...

received several awards for his gallantry in saving people from drowning in the

River Irwell The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary be ...

. On 1 October 1931 it was the scene of the 'Battle of Bexley Square' where 10,000 protesters of the Salford Branch of the

National Unemployed Workers' Movement The National Unemployed Workers' Movement was a British organisation set up in 1921 by members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It aimed to draw attention to the plight of unemployed workers during the post First World War slump, the 1926 ...

clashed with police, an event which is commemorated with a plaque on the building. The novelist

Walter Greenwood Walter Greenwood (17 December 1903 – 13 September 1974) was an English novelist, best known for the socially influential novel ''Love on the Dole'' (1933). Early life Greenwood was born at 56 Ellor Street, his father's house and hairdres ...

was present at the demonstration and a similar event is portrayed in his novel "

Love on the Dole ''Love on the Dole'' is a novel by Walter Greenwood, about working-class poverty in 1930s Northern England. It has been made into both a play and a film. The novel Walter Greenwood's novel (1933) was written during the early 1930s as a respons ...

". The building became the headquarters of the County Borough of Salford and continued to be called Salford Town Hall, notwithstanding that Salford was granted

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

in 1926. It ceased to be the local seat of government when the county borough was abolished by the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

and Swinton and Pendlebury Town Hall became the meeting place for the enlarged local authority area, known as the

City of Salford The City of Salford () is a metropolitan borough within Greater Manchester, England. The borough is named after its main settlement, Salford. The borough covers the towns of Eccles, Swinton, Walkden and Pendlebury, as well as the villages ...

, in 1974. Salford Town Hall was used as a court house until the last two court rooms closed in December 2011. It was subsequently sold to private developers, who completed converting the building into apartments in November 2015.

Architecture

The building was designed by Richard Lane, and was his first architectural project. Lane would go on to design several further prominent buildings in what is now Greater Manchester, including the Friends Meeting House in

Chorlton-on-Medlock Chorlton-on-Medlock or Chorlton-upon-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, Chorlton-on-Medlock is bordered to the north by the River Medlock, which runs immediately south of Manchester city centre. It ...

and Chorlton Town Hall, both of which have similar designs to Salford Town Hall. The building is constructed in the style of the Neo-classical style, with a minimalist

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

of the

Doric Order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

. Only the front of the building is faced with stone; the sides are red brick.

References

{{Salford B&S Grade II listed buildings in the City of Salford City and town halls in Greater Manchester Government buildings completed in 1827

History

Architecture

See also

References