Former Dewsbury Union Offices

This building served as the headquarters for Dewsbury Union in the 1890s and was later used as a registry office. It is built in late 19th-century Renaissance Revival style.

Materials and Construction

The structure is constructed of coursed millstone grit with ashlar dressings. The entire front elevation is faced in ashlar. The roofs are covered in slate.

Layout

The building has a square plan comprising a tall two-storey front range with a stair projection on the east side, and a single-storey rear range that wraps around to complete the square. The principal front elevation faces west onto Wellington Street. The building is bounded by the Wesleyan Centenary Chapel (now Elim Pentecostal Church) to the south, a former magistrates' court building (now an events venue) to the east, and a lane to the north connecting Wellington Street with Grove Street.

Exterior

Due to the sloping topography of Wellington Street, which slopes downwards from north to south, the southern end of the building sits on a plinth. Both front and rear ranges have dentilled eaves and a mixture of pitched and hipped roofs with stone chimneystacks (the stack at the centre of the front range's ridge has been removed). All windows are casements, some of which are top-opening.

Front (West) Elevation

The front elevation has five bays. The wider outer bays are gabled and project slightly forward, with paired windows on the ground floor and large Venetian windows on the first floor. The outer bays' ground-floor windows have rounded upper corners, carved rose reliefs to the aprons, and are separated by engaged antae (square columns) with carved decoration. The first-floor Venetian windows have moulded arches and scrolled keystones, and Corinthian half-columns and antae in place of mullions, which support entablatures that continue across the rest of the elevation. At the foot of each Venetian window is balustrading providing the illusion of a balcony. A deep dentilled eaves cornice runs across the top of the front elevation with a plain parapet above. On the outer bays the gables rise from the parapet and incorporate statue niches with shell half-domes topped by swan-neck pediments. A painted cast-iron street sign reading 'WELLINGTON STREET' is set between the floor levels of the left bay.

The main entrance is located on the ground floor of the second bay and is accessed by a later stone ramp and flight of steps with painted cast-iron railings. The entrance consists of a projecting gableted porch with a recessed doorway and panelled double doors set behind square, fluted Corinthian columns supporting an entablature with 'DEWSBURY UNION OFFICES' in relief lettering on the frieze. The porch's gablet incorporates a two-light stained-glass panel depicting fleur-de-lys and has a raised arched head containing a carved shell, echoing the Venetian window styling of the outer bays. The neighbouring ground-floor windows are in the same style as those in the outer bays, but without the pilaster decoration. On the first floor the windows have moulded round-arched heads and scrolled keystones.

North Elevation

The north gable end of the front range has paired windows to the left on each floor (those on the first floor have round-arched heads) and single windows on each floor to the right. At the top of the gable is a tall end ridge stack with stringcourses and a dentilled cornice. Attached to the left of the gable end is the single-storey rear range, which is plainer. On this side it has three bays, with tall windows in the two left bays and a tall entrance doorway in the right bay that provides access to a secondary internal hallway. The doorway has panelled double doors, a two-light overlight, and a later bracketed hood.

South Elevation

The front range's south gable end has windows on each side on the ground floor and a round-arched window on the first-floor left, plus an identical ridge stack to that at the north gable end. Attached to the right is the single-storey rear range, which also has three bays on this side with a window in each bay.

Rear (East) Elevation

At the rear of the front range is a two-storey projection containing the internal main stair. The projection has tall round-arched windows on the first floor on three sides and tall chimneys at the eastern corners with plain cornices. Attached at ground-floor level is the single-storey rear range, which has square-headed windows on its east elevation in the same style as those at the north and south ends, and an additional doorway towards the southern end.

Interior

Throughout the interior, deep skirtings, plain and decorative moulded cornicing, ceiling roses, six-panel doors, some built-in cupboards, dado and picture rails, ventilators, and moulded door and window architraves survive. The circulation spaces on the ground floor retain their original patterned mosaic floor, although some of it is hidden under later coverings. Fireplaces have been lost through theft in the early 21st century, but chimneybreasts and some tiled hearths survive. Some later partitioning, which is not full height, has been inserted into parts of the ground floor.

Ground Floor

The building's main entrance leads into a large vestibule with a wide screen leading through into a hallway and the stair hall beyond. The screen, which has replaced double doors at the centre, incorporates etched-glass panels with Greek-key borders and crowns surrounded by foliate decoration. The vestibule leads through to a wide hallway with a large room off to the north side. The doorway into a similarly large room on the south side has been altered into a large opening with a later panelled counter at the base and a screen on the upper part that operated as an enquiries desk during the building's 20th-century registry office use. An original doorway in the stair hall provides access into this room, as well as a room in the south-west corner. All three rooms are similarly styled with dado rails, cornicing, ceiling roses, and panelled aprons beneath the windows. The room in the south-west corner also contains a door architrave removed from a blocked-up doorway leading out to the stair hall.

The rear range's north-side entrance leads into a similarly styled but narrower hallway with a room off to each side and internal windows into the hallway. A screen at the end of the hallway incorporates etched-glass panels in the same style as those in the main-entrance vestibule.

Stair Hall

At the centre of the building the large stair hall contains a wide, open-well stone stair with curtail steps, decorative cast-iron balustrade and cast-iron newel posts, and a timber handrail. It is lit by tall round-arched first-floor windows with scrolled keystones. The stair hall has a coffered ceiling and pilasters supporting the hall's openings. At the southern end of the stair hall is an arched opening accessing a small room (now a kitchenette) set behind a partly-glazed etched-glass screen, which is similarly styled to those near the ground-floor entrances. On the west wall is a blocked-up doorway that originally led into the south-west room. An original doorway on the east side leads into a large room in the south-east corner of the rear range, which is similarly detailed to those in the front range. Two further rooms in the rear range with some later partitioning have an original small internal window in their dividing wall.

First Floor

The first-floor landing shares the mosaic flooring of the ground-floor circulation spaces and has a boarded-over doorway in the north wall that accesses toilets with glaze-tiled walls. A later fire-safety partition has been inserted on the west side of the landing and leads through to three doorways with elaborate pedimented doorcases that access the first-floor rooms. The doorway on the south side has a larger doorway with double doors and leads into the main room (probably originally a committee room), which occupies the southern half of the first floor. The room has a decorative ceiling, chimneybreasts at each north and south end, an elaborate architrave incorporating pilasters to its Venetian window, and pedimented doorcases to the internal door faces, including one that leads through into the neighbouring room. The two rooms in the northern half of the first floor are smaller and share the same window treatment as the main room, but with slightly plainer ceilings and plain moulded architraves to the internal door faces.