Rochdale Town Hall was opened on
September 7th, 1871 with a ceremony befitting this
fine Victorian building designed by William Crossland.
When proposed in 1864 it was recommended that £20,000
be spent on a suitable building. When it was
completed, the remarkable building with its 240 foot
high wooden spire topped by a gilded statue of St.
George, cost £155,000. Twelve years after it was
opened a fire, visible 10 miles away, destroyed the
tower. The building remained spireless for 4 years
before Alfred Waterhouse, the architect responsible
for Manchester Town Hall, completed a fine stone
replacement.
The English Heritage website says
that the tower is, "... a version of that at
Manchester Town Hall (it) rises
sheer from the plinth through three stages to the
broader clock stage where gables surmount each
face flanked by pinnacles. Above this a short
octagonal lantern carries a stone spire."
The original tower of the townhall
was destroyed by fire on the 10th of April 1883.
The first stone of this tower was laid by Alderman Tho
Schofield J P. Chairman of the General Purposes
Committee on the 10th of Oct. 1885 and this tablet was
placed here by the Mayor Josu Robi Heape JP Upon the
completion of the tower on the 20th of June 1887 the
50th anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty Queen
Victoria.
A Waterhouse R A, ArchitectW Peters & Sons, Builders Zach Mellor, Town Clerk "The central three bays have
a heavily buttressed porte-cochere supporting
heraldic beasts and acting as a balcony to the
Hall which is lit by tall three-light windows with
geometrical tracery."
“This tablet was erected by
public subscription to the memory of the men and
nursing sisters of Rochdale who died in South Africa
1899-1905 vin the service of their sovereign and
country”
***************************** This statue of the entertainer
Gracie Fields, the world’s highest-paid female actor
in the 1930s, was unveiled outside the town hall on
Sunday September 18, 2016. It was the first
statue of a woman to be erected in Greater Manchester
in more than 100 years.
******************************************************* In March of 2024 after a 4 year
restoration program, Rochdale Town Hall had what they
described as a "Grand Reopening", The invitation
that was issued encouraged the public to "Come along
to the opening day celebrations". "All of the
historic rooms will be open to explore for the first
time in history". I didn't get to the reopening
but I did take part in a tour of the building soon
after. Here are some of the things I saw.
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