Wallasey Town Hall including podium facing walls and steps, concrete retaining walls and steps down to the promenade, boundary walls and railings including light standards, and railings to front lawns

Wallasey Town Hall is a grand civic building begun in 1914 and designed by Briggs, Wolstenholme and Thornely. It opened in 1916 as a military hospital before being converted to its intended use as a town hall in 1920. The building stands on a terraced site sloping down to the River Mersey promenade, with cascading steps and retaining walls forming an impressive approach from the waterfront.

The town hall is constructed in cream Stancliffe (Darley Dale) sandstone with a Westmorland green slate roof to the front range. The structure uses iron framing with concrete floors, and has metal and timber windows throughout. It is built on a quadrangular plan with a cross range and four irregular lightwells. The arrangement consists of a front (civic hall) south-west range, a riverside (council chamber) north-east range with a square tower behind, and side ranges linked by a central cross-range and a stair and lift spine. The front range has a hipped roof while the remaining ranges have flat roofs.

The architecture is in a free neo-Grecian style within the Beaux Arts tradition, executed in ashlar stonework that is rusticated at ground floor level. The building is generally of three storeys plus a basement and some attics.

Front (west) range facing Brighton Street

The nine-bay front range has slightly projecting three-storey pavilions towards each end flanking a tall piano-nobile civic hall with seven large arched windows divided by tall pilasters. A pierced parapet runs between the pediments and blind attics of the pavilions. The building has a full entablature with triglyphs, mutules and guttae, a milled plat band and ashlar plinth. The hipped green slate roof is visible above, as is the rear tower. The central bay features a projecting entrance with panelled doors and cast-iron railings to a balcony above. The balcony doorway is surmounted by an urn, and its host window has a figured keystone and garland, with a relief to the parapet above depicting the dolphin and trident of the borough's arms (granted in 1910). A later access ramp and railings have been added to the entrance.

The other first-floor windows have keystones and cavetto surrounds, with sill bands and aprons. The ground-floor windows also have aprons, shoulder ornamentation and ashlar surrounds. The pillars between have drops from lion masks on the plat band above. The deep central window recesses of the pedimented pavilions are flanked by giant columns in antis. Ground-floor entrances to each pavilion are flat-headed with radiating voussoirs and a large metal lantern, flanked by slit windows. The outer returns of the pavilion projections have large cast-iron rainwater hoppers dated 1916.

North-west range

The north-west range is arranged in 3:11:5 bays. The three left bays comprise the projecting end of the rear riverside range, and the five right bays that of the front range, with the intervening eleven bays recessed. The five-bay return of the front range continues the treatment of the front pavilions, its central three bays slightly projecting under a pediment with a giant order of pilasters over three arched entrances with panelled doors and decorative overlights. The stair and gallery windows below the pediment are arched. To the left of this, all ground-floor windows are arched with keystones, while others are flat.

The 11-bay range is simpler with a plain frieze and plat band. There is a full basement area (partially infilled by a later store) with cast-iron railings with pine-cone finials, bridged at the central entrance bay which has a projecting first-floor balcony with carving and railings. The bridge is flanked by original light standards with replacement fittings. The left bay of the 11 has an inserted ramped entrance. The three-bay return of the rear block has a decorative frieze and milled plat band, and a giant order of pilasters. The inner returns of the projecting front and rear blocks have rainwater pipes with the same dated hoppers as the front range.

Rear riverside (north-east) range

The rear riverside range is the most elaborate and is of 15 bays with wide corner pilasters and projecting central five bays. The corner pilasters have a garlanded blind oculus, milled plat band and arched ground-floor niche. The main walling is similar to the side range described above, but with corniced lintels to the first floor. The basement area is walled, with bricked-up openings.

The central projection has a pierced parapet between blind attics, with decorative frieze and milled plat band. Giant pilasters and blind oculi mark its outer bays, while central tall arched windows with attached columns mark the council chamber. The windows have elaborate figurative keyblocks. A pyramidal flight of steps approaches the ground floor, with a central entrance. Later grilles protect the accessible ground-floor openings.

Rising above and behind the central projection is a landmark tower reaching 55 metres in height. It is of three stages, blind at the base with an open central stage forming a lantern with large round-headed arches and connecting open screens with columns and entablatures. The upper stage has large seated figures by William Birnie Rhind at the corners representing peace, courage, prudence and industry. Each face has an in-antis portico, which support a ziggurat surmounted by a copper urn.

South-east range

The south-east range is similar to the north-west range, but with a slightly different arrangement of openings to the side return of the front range, including an inserted entrance in one of the ground-floor windows.

The exterior walls of the internal lightwells are in scored render or white glazed tiles.

Interior

Much of the original office plan has been opened out, although corridors retain many original doorsets, some relocated. However, the principal plan and key spaces remain relatively little-altered. Most stairs and corridors have marble flooring. There are some inserted suspended ceilings and replacement light fittings. The kitchen to the south of the stage has modern equipment.

The central imperial-style stair hall has ceilings supported by fluted columns and pilasters, and double doors with margin and saltire panes. Brass plaques of 1992 carry the roll of honour of the Second World War. The marble stairs have cast-iron balusters and elaborate openwork lamp holders with rams' heads, supplied by Walter Macfarlane and Company. At the head of the main stair is a display case.

The ante-room to the first-floor council chamber is panelled and vaulted. The council chamber at the east end has panelled dado, fluted wooden Corinthian pilasters, a complex plaster ceiling with central roundel, public gallery and good quality furnishings, with more rams' heads. The nearby Mayor's parlour retains timber and plaster decoration, fireplace and furnishings.

The civic hall at the west end is barrel vaulted with elaborate plasterwork, the cornices returning to form open screens at both ends, and massive bronze and glass light fittings. Timber dado panelling and elaborate entrance architraves also survive. At the hall's south end there is a stage with proscenium. A circular ante-chamber to the hall's east is similarly styled with dome and central lantern, and plaster wall decoration.

The original lift cage survives in the north-east corner (with modern lift) and there is a second impressive stair hall at the north-west entrance, accessing the civic hall (also with Macfarlane's balustrades). Several original cloakrooms retain decorative tiling, original sanitary ware and marble stall dividers. A short section of corridor wall panelling survives in the south-east corner, and most corridors have original gilt radiator-shelves (some now painted). The upper floors of the front range retain original stage machinery, including a liftable ceiling to the stage, as well as dressing rooms with sliding doors, and some original wall-lights.

Setting and subsidiary features

The building stands on a podium with stone facing walls and steps, with similar railings and light standards to those of the basement areas. To the east, concrete retaining walls and four flights of steps cascade to the riverfront, with similar railings, handrails and light standards. The podium and riverfront terraces are flagged with replaced concrete paving. Modern plaques on the retaining wall at the foot commemorate the staff who operated the hospital here, and the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, to whom the terraced gardens are now dedicated. To the front of the building, low railings of the same design surround lawns.

A modern glazed south-east stair tower and a rooftop photovoltaic array are excluded from the listing.