Accrington Town Hall

Accrington Town Hall
Accrington Town Hall
Location	Blackburn Road, Accrington
Coordinates	53°45′12″N2°21′55″W / 53.7532°N 2.3653°W / 53.7532; -2.3653
Built	1858
Architect	James F. Green and T. Birtwhistle
Architectural style(s)	Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	Town Hall
Designated	9 March 1984
Reference no.	1362011
Shown in Lancashire Show map of Lancashire Location in Borough of Hyndburn Show map of the Borough of Hyndburn

Accrington Town Hall is a municipal building in Blackburn Road, Accrington, Lancashire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Accrington Borough Council, is a grade II* listed building. ^[1]

History

The building was originally commissioned as an assembly hall to commemorate the life of the former Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel. ^{[2] [3]} The cost of construction was funded by a campaign of public subscription led by a local businessman, Benjamin Hargreaves of Arden Hall. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

The new building was designed by James F. Green and T. Birtwhistle in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and opened as the "Peel Institute" in 1858. ^{[7] [8]} The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto Blackburn Road; the central section, which projected forward, featured a porte-cochère supporting a balustrade and a hexastyle portico with Corinthian order columns on the first floor with a pediment above. ^[1] Internally, the principal room was the assembly hall on the first floor. ^[1] The assembly hall also accommodated meetings of the local mechanics institute. ^[9]

The building was acquired by the local board of health in 1864 ^[10] and the area became a municipal borough with the town hall as its headquarters in 1878. ^[10] The Accrington Pals Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment was formally raised by the mayor, Councillor John Harwood, inside the town hall in September 1914; the battalion subsequently marched past the building before preparing to deploy, initially to Egypt and then to the Western Front, during the First World War. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the borough council for much of the 20th century and remained a meeting place for the enlarged Hyndburn Borough Council which was formed in 1974. ^[14] Many of the council officers and their departments were based at Eagle House before moving to Scaitcliffe House, the former canteen for textile machinery manufacturers, Howard & Bullough, in June 2002. ^[15] Whilst Scaitcliffe House is used for Hyndburn's committee meetings, full council meetings are still held at the town hall. ^[16]

A new town square was created in front of the town hall and market hall, to commemorate the lives of the Accrington Pals, in 2017. ^[17] The scheme involved the removal of a series of trees, which had been planted outside the town hall and market hall in 1962, ^[18] and the installation of new paving, seating and signage recording the history of the Accrington Pals, Accrington Stanley F.C. and the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the town. ^[19]

See also

• Grade II* listed buildings in Lancashire
• Listed buildings in Accrington

References

1. Historic England. "Town Hall (1362011)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 2 January 2021.
2. "The Peel Family". My Learning. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
3. "Tourist guide to Accrington". Lancashire Telegraph. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
4. "History of town's most famous road". Lancs Live. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
5. "Arden Hall ruins, Accrington". Lancashire Past. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
6. "Discovering Accrington" (PDF). Urbed. p. 33. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
7. "Façade: Accrington Town Hall". Art and Architecture. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
8. "Burnley Mechanics Conservation Statement". Purcell. 1 July 2017. p. 50. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
9. "Discovering Accrington" (PDF). Urbed. p. 29. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
10. Farrer, William; Brownbill, J. (1911). "'Townships: Old and New Accrington', in A History of the County of Lancaster". London: British History Online. pp. 423–427. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
11. "From the Beginning to the Present Day". East Lancashire Concert Band. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
12. "Plaque to commemorate the 11th (Service) Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
13. Turner, William Bennett (2008). Accrington Pals: The 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington) East Lancashire Regiment A History of the Battalion Raised from Accrington, Blackburn, Burnley and Chorley in World War One. Pen and Sword Books. ISBN   978-1473811621.
14. Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN   0-10-547072-4.
15. "Council seeks title for new HQ". Lancashire Telegraph. 15 March 2002. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
16. "Council agenda, 30 June 2022". Hyndburn Borough Council. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
17. "NMS awarded prestigious £2m Accrington Town Square Redevelopment contract". Accrington Observer. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
18. "Controversial plans to remove trees outside Accrington town hall met with concern". Lancashire Telegraph. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
19. "Artscape takes Accrington's Rich History off the Bench and under the Spotlight". Hardscape. Retrieved 2 January 2021.