The former Oddfellows' Hall in

Barton-upon-Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is sou ...

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, H ...

constructed in 1864 by the Barton Lodge of the

Odd Fellows Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in 18th-cen ...

Society. As well as an Oddfellows' Hall it has operated as a cinema, dance hall, roller skating rink, offices, library, and private accommodation.

Architecture

The hall was built in 1864 in Palazzo style with red brick and yellow-grey brick walls and a Welsh slate roof. It is a two storey building, the upper floor of which is divided into five bays on its long side and three on its narrow side - these bays are divided by articulated yellow-grey brick

pilasters 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 ...

. The ground floor has four-pane segmented sash windows, the upper floor has paired semi-circular headed sash windows with a large eight-pane window in the centre of the long side. All the windows are below grey brick arches. It has a stepped red and blue brick

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

with overhanging

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

. The building was listed for "historic reasons as an unusually grand and architecturally pretentious friendly society hall".

History and use

The hall was built in 1864 by the Good Design Lodge at a cost of £1,000. In around 1911 it was re-purposed as Barton's first cinema, the “Electric Picture Theatre”, and showed silent movies. Latterly it was used by a theatre company and in the 1930s as a

roller skating Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreation, recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on s ...

Roller rink A roller rink is a hard surface usually consisting of hardwood or concrete, used for roller skating or inline skating. This includes roller hockey, speed skating, roller derby, and individual recreational skating. Roller rinks can be located in ...

. During the Second World War it was used as a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term ap ...

. After the war the large hall was divided into offices for the

Ministry of Labour A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...

and other governmental departments, with a public library on the ground floor. The top half of the building, containing the hall, currently stands empty and the divided ground floor are private apartments. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

was erected on the building by the Barton Civic Society to highlight its former function.

Gallery

File:Oddfellows Friendly Society - High Street - geograph.org.uk - 1490453.jpg, Oddfellows Hall from the corner of High Street and Queens Street File:Oddfellows Hall - geograph.org.uk - 199156.jpg, Oddfellows Hall, High Street side File:Oddfellows Hall, Barton-upon-Humber (Queens Street).jpg, Oddfellows Hall, Queens Street side File:Oddfellows Hall, Queen Street Doorway - geograph.org.uk - 916834.jpg, Queen's Street door detail File:Corner of Oddfellows Hall, Barton-upon-Humber.jpg, High Street door detail File:Oddfellow's Society Blue Plaque, High Street, Barton-upon-Humber.jpg, Blue plaque

References

{{Reflist, 30em 1864 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Lincolnshire Grade II listed buildings in North Lincolnshire Former cinemas in England Roller skating rinks Dance venues in England Odd Fellows buildings in the United Kingdom Barton-upon-Humber