Liversedge Town Hall is a former

municipal building Municipal Building may refer to the following places: United States Arkansas *Crossett Municipal Building, Crossett, AR *Municipal Building (El Dorado, Arkansas), El Dorado, AR *Texarkana, Arkansas, Municipal Building, Texarkana, AR California *V ...

and town hall on Knowler Hill in the town of

Liversedge Liversedge is an industrial town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Liversedge lies between Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike. The Kirklees ward is now called Liversedge and ...

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. The building, which formerly operated as the offices of Liversedge Urban District Council, is now used as private residential accommodation.

History

Following significant population growth, largely associated with the woollen industry, a

local board of health A local board of health (or simply a ''local board'') was a local authority in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulat ...

was established in the Liversedge area in 1875. The main reason for the formation of the board was to establish proper drainage in the township, but a second order priority was to commission offices for the board itself: the site they selected for the new building was open land at the top of Knowler Hill. The building was designed by William Ellis of

Heckmondwike Heckmondwike is a town in the Kirklees district, West Yorkshire, England, south west of Leeds. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is close to Cleckheaton and Liversedge. It is in the Spen Valley parliamentary constituency ...

in the

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Ita ...

, built in

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

brick and was completed in around 1880. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Knowler Hill. The central bay featured a 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, ...

, an

archivolt An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental Molding (decorative), moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, ...

and a keystone which was flanked by

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 supporting a

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 ...

; the pilasters were decorated with carved floral bosses. On the first floor, the central bay was fenestrated by a pair of round headed windows and the other bays were fenestrated in a similar style. At roof level there was a heavily bracketed cornice. Internally, the principal room was the boardroom for the local board. The local board was replaced by Liversedge Urban District Council, with its headquarters in the former public offices, in 1894. The building became known as the "Town Hall" in the late 19th century and continued to serve as the headquarters of the urban district council into the early 20th century, but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Spenborough Urban District Council was formed in

Cleckheaton Cleckheaton is a town in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Bradford, east of Brighouse, west of Batley and so ...

in 1915. The building, by then known as the "Old Town Hall", was subsequently used as a community centre and a clinic with visiting medical staff. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was converted for commercial use and served as an electrical store, known as "Padgett's Radio Stores", in the 1960s and 1970s, before being converted into private residential accommodation. The significance of the building was recognised when, in 2012, a garden known as "Sparrow Park" was constructed outside the building in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the uprising and

Luddite The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers who opposed the use of certain types of automated machinery due to concerns relating to worker pay and output quality. They often destroyed the machines in organ ...

attack on Rawfolds Mill, which began just up the road from the monument in the still-operational "Shears"

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

References

{{City and town halls in West Yorkshire Government buildings completed in 1880 City and town halls in West Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Kirklees