Kearsley Town Hall

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Kearsley Town Hall was a municipal building on Bolton Road in Kearsley, a town in Greater Manchester, in England. The building, which was the headquarters of Kearsley Urban District Council, was demolished in 2013.

History

Following significant population growth, largely associated with the number of cotton mills in the area, a local board of health was established in Kearsley in 1865. [1] In 1894 the local board was replaced by Kearsley Urban District Council. [2]

In 1910, the council purchased Highfield House, which stood on the corner of Bolton Road and Highfield Street, and had been commissioned by Samuel Gee. The house had been designed in the Victorian style, built in red brick and was completed shortly before Gee died in 1877. [3] [4]

The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Bolton Road. The central bay featured a segmental headed doorway with a hood mould on the ground floor, with a sash window on the first floor. The left hand bay was fenestrated with bay windows on both floors and was gabled, while the right hand bay was fenestrated by a bay window on the ground floor and two sash windows on the first floor. The council converted the building for municipal use and installed a council chamber. [5]

A war memorial, in the form of a simple cross on a pedestal, which intended to commemorate the lives of local people who had died in the First World War, was installed in front of the town hall in October 1921. [6] [7] [8]

The town hall was the location of many local celebrations. When Bolton Wanderers F.C. won the 1958 FA Cup final, it was the first stop on its victory coach tour, attracting a crowd of 5,000 people. [9]

The building continued to serve as the meeting place of the district council for much of the 20th century, [10] but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Bolton Borough Council was formed in 1974. [11] The town hall was subsequently leased to the Probation Service, which used it for training and conferences. [12] In 2011, the building was sold for £138,000, and Hamill Investments announced plans to convert it into offices. However, the town hall suffered from vandalism, including a fire, and it was then deemed uneconomic to repair it. [13] [14] It was demolished in 2013, with housing built on the site. [6]

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References

  1. ↑ Farrer, William; Brownbill, J. (1911). A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5. London: Victoria County History. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  2. ↑ "Kearsley UD". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  3. ↑ "Memorial Inscriptions at New Jerusalem in the Parish of Kearsley". Lancashire Online Parish Clerks. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  4. ↑ "Ordnance Survey Map circa 1860 (house not shown at that time)" . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  5. ↑ "From our archives". Bolton News. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Kearsley Cross". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  7. ↑ "Kearsley War Memorial". Memorials Online. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  8. ↑ "Kearsley (Bolton)". The Yorkshire Regiment, First World War Remembrance. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  9. ↑ "Joe Hollinshead". Bolton Council. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  10. ↑ "No. 44469". The London Gazette . 5 December 1967. p. 13296.
  11. ↑ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN   0-10-547072-4.
  12. ↑ Armitage, Simon (2009). All Points North. Penguin. ISBN   9780141040462.
  13. ↑ Newey, Miranda (22 October 2012). "Demolition plan for Kearsley Town Hall". Bolton News. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  14. ↑ "Landmark Town Hall is demolished". Bolton News. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2024.

53°32′25″N2°22′39″W / 53.5403°N 2.3775°W / 53.5403; -2.3775

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