Town Hall

Town Hall

This is a Grade I listed town hall standing on the south-east side of The Esplanade. Built between 1866 and 1871, it was designed by W.H. Crossland, with the tower added in 1883 by A. Waterhouse. The building is constructed in ashlar with a Westmorland slate roof.

The plan is essentially axial, with the entrance hall (also called the Exchange) forming the central circulation space. To either side are the reception room, Lord Mayor's Parlour, Small Exchange, members lounge and committee rooms. The grand staircase rises from this hall to the first floor Great Hall, with small staircases terminating the plan at either end. The Council Chamber and retiring room occupy the upper floor to the south-west, formerly serving as the Court Room.

The architecture is Gothic Revival in elaborate form, drawing on Continental precedents. The fourteen-bay facade is asymmetrical yet balanced. The outer bays on each end rise three storeys with triangular gables but differ in their treatment. The next two bays to the left and three to the right feature ground-floor arcades surmounted by tiers of plate glass windows, mostly mullioned with cusped heads. These terminate above corbelled balconies in stepped gables richly panelled with blind tracery. The central seven bays contain the Great Hall and are flanked to the left by a slim octagonal stair turret with stone spirelet, and to the right by an octagonal stair tower with tall two-light pointed windows and steep pyramidal slate roof with cresting. The central three bays have a heavily buttressed porte-cochere supporting heraldic beasts and serving as a balcony to the Hall, which is lit by tall three-light windows with geometrical tracery. Battlements surmount the facade, behind which rises an immense slate roof with a central wooden fleche.

The tower, modelled on that at Manchester Town Hall, rises from the plinth through three stages to a broader clock stage where gables surmount each face, flanked by pinnacles. Above this sits a short octagonal lantern carrying a stone spire. The entire facade is richly carved with naturalistic foliage in the style of Southwell Minster. The main feature of each return wall is a tall semi-octagonal stair tower with lead windows and pyramidal slate roofs.

The rear is comparatively plain, though its centre is occupied by the great stair hall of three bays with weathered buttresses and very tall three-light windows, roofed separately.

The entrance hall measures five bays by three bays and features quadripartite red and white stone vaulting with finely carved capitals in the Southwell Minster style, carved by Thomas Earp. It contains polished granite columns and Minton floor tiles, and was originally intended to function as an Exchange space forming an undercroft to the main hall.

The reception room is notable for three pierced diaphragm arches, two Tudor-arched fireplaces with castellated mantles and heraldic panels, and wall paintings depicting the various machines used in textile manufacture. The Lord Mayor's Parlour contains a similar fireplace, chamfered beams carried on corbels representing sections of an orchestra, William Morris stained glass depicting the seasons and months of the year, and wall paintings. The members lounge has a vaulted ceiling carried on granite corner columns. The Small Exchange displays the industries of Rochdale represented in its stained glass and ceiling paintings.

The vaulted stair hall features one flight which returns in two, with clustered columns rising between the flights. A heavy marble handrail rests on a stone arcade, the upper landings are supported on flying ribs, and the stained glass depicts towns with which Rochdale traded. The Great Hall contains a painted timber roof with angelic hammer beams. Henry Holiday's wall painting of 1870 depicts King John signing the Magna Carta. The stained glass is by Bayne of Heaton But and Bayne and includes two rose windows in the gables. A large organ is housed in three pointed arches. The Council Chamber and Court Room are elaborately decorated with carved timber fittings. Most rooms retain original painted wall pattern designs by Best of Rochdale and oak linenfold panelling of varying designs.

The design was selected through competition in 1864 and represents an important early departure from High Victorian heaviness. The building is listed in The Builder for 7 April 1866, 7 October 1871 and 12 February 1876.