West Vale Public Hall

This former mechanics' institute and town hall was built in 1873-4 to designs by Horsfall, Wardle & Patchett of Halifax. It is constructed of rock-faced sandstone 'bricks' with ashlar dressings and has a slate roof. The building stands two storeys high plus a basement level, designed in a mild Lombardic Gothic style.

Site and Plan

The building occupies a triangular plot bordered by Rochdale Road (formerly Elland Road) to the south-west, Calder Street to the north, and Alfred Street to the east. Adjoining it on the east side are a Baptist chapel of 1868 and a late-19th or early-20th century meeting house. The hall runs east-west with its front elevation facing south at an angle to Rochdale Road. Because the site slopes steeply downwards from south to north, the rear (north) elevation has a full basement that functions as a lower ground floor level.

Exterior

Most of the building's windows are sash windows with glazing bars and margin lights containing some coloured glass.

Front (South) Elevation

The west end of the front elevation is dominated by an entrance tower with round-arched entrances in painted ashlar on its south and west faces. These entrances sit beneath gablets topped by trefoil finials and are flanked by carved antae. The anta at the south-west corner bears lettering (partly obscured by later paint) on the south face reading 'GREETLAND PUBLIC HALL & COUNCIL OFFICES'. The same lettering appears on the gablet of the west face, whilst the south gablet has stylised carved foliate decoration. Both entrances were originally open but have since been infilled with later partly-glazed panelled doors and plain fanlights above, creating an entrance vestibule.

The tower has a single first-floor window on each south and west face, both with round-arched heads set beneath Gothic arches with decorative carved tympanums. On the stage above, each south and west face has a roundel containing nine smaller pierced roundels, the centre one being a quatrefoil. The tower is crowned by a pyramidal roof incorporating tiny gableted dormer windows with louvred openings, and topped by a weathervane and a small platform accessed via a ladder attached to the north side of the roof.

The main section of the front elevation to the right of the tower has five bays, with a wide central bay set beneath a raised gable incorporating a Lombard frieze and surmounted by a foliated finial. At the gable apex sits a roundel matching those on the tower. The centre bay contains tripartite windows on both floors: those on the ground floor have square heads, whilst those on the first floor are styled like a Venetian window with a raised centre light, but all have round-arched heads set beneath Gothic arches with decorative carved tympanums. The window lights are separated by paired pink-granite columns with foliated capitals and plain bases in ashlar, and an ornamental balcony with carved quatrefoil decoration sits in front.

The two flanking outer bays on each side have single windows on both floors matching the style of those in the centre bay. The lower part of the ground-floor window in the easternmost bay has been converted into a doorway. Sill bands and continuous hoodmoulds run across the windows on both floor levels and also on the west return of the tower. Just below the roof is a bracketed eaves, which continues across the tower.

Rear (North) Elevation

The six-bay rear elevation facing Calder Street is plainer and has a lower ground-floor level at street level due to the sloping site. The elevation consists of a main five-bay section, the central bay of which projects forward slightly and is lit by tripartite windows on the ground and first floors in a similar style to those on the front elevation, though without the carved tympanums on the upper floor windows and pink-granite columns. The outer bays are lit by similarly styled windows on the two upper floors.

At the centre of the lower ground floor is a wide arched entranceway (originally access for the fire engine) now fitted with a modern roller shutter. The two bays to the right have casement windows, whilst those to the left have a blocked-up doorway (possibly originally a window) and a blocked-up window. A small cast-iron fire alarm is also present to the right.

Set at the far right of the elevation behind the tower is an additional stair bay lit by a wide two-over-two sash window on the ground floor and a tall round-headed window at the half-landing level above. At lower ground-floor level is a slender side light adjacent to a blocked-up doorway and another blocked-up side light.

Side Elevations

The side elevations are blank except for a tiny square window set high up the west elevation and a later inserted doorway with a plain overlight at lower ground floor level.

Interior

Internally, the floors are stone flags and floorboards, along with some cement floors. Some panelled doors are original, but many have been replaced. The main entrance leads into a stair hall containing a dog-leg stair with decorative cast-iron splat balusters, a foliated cast-iron newel post, curtail step, and a wreathed handrail that leads up to the main first-floor hall.

To the right is a doorway with partly-glazed panelled double-doors leading to a spine corridor that runs the length of the ground floor with rooms off to each side, some with later suspended ceilings. The rooms off the north side of the corridor are smaller and some have been modernised. The original ceiling in one room (now used as toilets) is visible and has moulded cornicing, a Jacobean-style patterned ceiling and a decorative frieze.

Off the south side of the corridor is a large room (possibly originally a committee room) with a coved ceiling and wall panelling up to picture-rail height incorporating pilasters. At the west end of the room, incorporated into the panelling, is a cartouche containing a clock, and above the double doors at the east end is another similarly styled cartouche. Further decorative carving exists on the north wall's panelling. Beyond the room's east doorway is a small ante room.

At the eastern end of the ground floor is a secondary stair leading up to the first-floor hall and two dressing or preparation rooms, along with two toilets (sanitary ware removed) with original doors and door furniture, black and white geometric tiled floors, white glazed-tile dados with a green acanthus leaf border, and decorative ventilators. A neighbouring window has been partly converted into a doorway and an internal roller shutter inserted that cuts into one of the toilet cubicles.

The main stair's first-floor landing has been partly boxed-in to create a small storage room. Off the landing to the front of the building is the first-floor tower room, which contains a kitchenette with a serving hatch in the east wall. The room's north wall has been knocked through and a later partition wall erected on the landing.

Off the east side of the stair landing is a wide doorway with panelled double-doors leading into a large hall occupying the rest of the first floor. Running around the room is a wainscotted dado and all the windows have moulded architraves at their heads linked via a decorative cornice. The hall's ceiling has deep moulded cornicing, which is also present on a series of ceiling beams supported by scrolled consoles. The original light fittings have all been removed, but the octagonal ceiling ventilators and fixings survive.

At the western end of the room is a simple tiered timber balcony accessed via a straight stair flight with alternate paired and triple balusters on each step. Part of the balcony's later panelled front, in which the panels incorporate an Art Deco-style sunburst pattern, has been removed. The underside of the stair is panelled and incorporates an under-stair cupboard. When viewed from the balcony, the hall's floorboard floor is arranged in an octagonal pattern.

At the eastern end of the room is a stage, accessed via a short flight of steps located at its south-west corner. Attached to the east wall above the stage is a large modern metal sheet, possibly added to stabilise movement in the end wall. To the left of the stage is an inserted late-20th century goods lift and associated steel frame structure rising up from the lower ground floor level. To the right of the stage is a timber stair flight leading down to a small mezzanine level behind and below the stage, which has split-level floors and was possibly originally used as a dressing or preparation area for meetings and events held in the hall. The space is divided into three areas, one of which is located underneath the stage and has a hatch access door. An enclosed stair flight against the east wall leads down to the ground floor; on the landing are slender cast-iron stick balusters set on a diagonal and incorporating a central barley-twist section and a decorative newel post.

The lower ground floor is accessed via a stair underneath the main stair and a later stair inserted at the eastern end. The northern half of the space alongside Calder Street consists of a series of spaces in part connected by aligned doorways. Two rooms at the western end retain chimneybreasts. The southern half of the space comprises former coal holes and storage areas.