Old Town Hall, Wakefield

Wakefield Old Town Hall, also known as No. 5 Crown Court, is a historic building in the city centre of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, in England. After operating as a town hall from 1861 to 1880, it served as an organ factory and then as commercial offices, before being adapted for residential use.

Old Town Hall
The building, in 2013
Location	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Coordinates	53.6833°N 1.5007°W / 53.6833; -1.5007
Built	1800
Architectural style(s)	Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated	30 March 1971
Reference no.	1259842
Location of Old Town Hall in West Yorkshire

History

The building lies on Crown Court.^[1] It was designed in the neoclassical style and constructed between 1798 and 1800 as the New Assembly Rooms, replacing rooms in the White Hart Inn on Kirkgate.^[2] In 1803, the Wakefield Star, the town's first newspaper, was founded in and published from the building. The Assembly Rooms closed in about 1821, and from 1845 the building served as the headquarters of the Wakefield Church Institution.^[3] This moved into purpose-built premises in 1858, and from 1861, the building housed the council chambers.^[4] The council moved into a new Wakefield Town Hall in 1880.^[5]

The old town hall then became an organ building factory, operated by Alfred Kirkland, in 1893.^[6] Kirkland continued designing and manufacturing organs there,^[7][8][9] until the end of the First World War when he relocated to Holloway Road in London.^[10] The building was then adapted for commercial use as offices.^[6] A variety of commercial tenants were subsequently accommodated including, since the early 21st century, a recruitment business operating in the accounting sector.^[11] A piece of public art, sculpted by Oliver Barratt, cast in bronze and known as "seams", was unveiled outside the building in July 2007.^[12] Since 2018, the building has largely been in residential use.^[13]

Architecture

The building is two storeys high, with a basement. It is seven bays wide, and is built of brick, faced with stucco. All the windows are sashes, and those on the first floor have round heads. There is a four-panel front door, up three steps, with a fanlight, above which is inscribed "TOWN HALL". There are wrought iron railings in front of the building.^[14] The building was grade II listed in 1971.^[14]

See also

• Listed buildings in Wakefield

References

1. Harman, Ruth; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2017). Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South. The Buildings of England. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 709. ISBN 978-0-300-22468-9.
2. Taylor, Thomas (1886). The History of Wakefield, in the County of York The Rectory Manor, with Biographical and Other Notices of Some of the Persons Connected Therewith. W. H. Milnes. p. 247.
3. "Wakefield Church Institution". Open Plaques. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
4. "Guide to Selected Historical Buildings in Wakefield". Wakefield Historical Society. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
5. Dawson, Paul (2015). Secret Wakefield. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445646930.
6. Thornborrow, Peter; Gwilliam, Paul (2018). Wakefield in 50 Buildings. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445659077.
7. "Alfred Kirkland". Biographical Dictionary of the Organ. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
8. Bush, Douglas Earl; Kassel, Richard (2006). The Organ An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-0415941747.
9. Thistlethwaite, Nicholas (1999). The Making of the Victorian Organ. Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0521663649.
10. Stinson, Iain (1 August 2018). "The Sonus Paradisi William Hill Sample Set – Some details about the real organ" (PDF). Retrieved 19 November 2023.
11. "Bagnall Hopkins Recruitment". Companies House. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
12. "Seams". Oliver Barratt. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
13. Dawson, Paul L. (2023). Celebrating Wakefield. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1398113503.
14. Historic England. "Old Town Hall, 16 King Street (1259842)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 November 2023.