Town Hall

Town Hall

This is a major Gothic Revival town hall built between 1882 and 1887, designed by WH Lynn of Belfast with contractors Short and Devlin of Glasgow. It is constructed from snecked red sandstone with ashlar dressings and graduated slate roofs.

The building rises three storeys with an attic and a prominent six-stage tower. The main façade is arranged in a near-symmetrical composition of 1:1:5:2:4:1:1 bays. Bays 2 and 14 feature oriel bay windows corbelled out over the ground floor, while bays 10-13 on the first and second floors contain larger windows that rise through two storeys to light the council chamber, interspersed with statue niches on shafts.

The architectural detailing is richly Gothic throughout. The ground floor features a chamfered plinth with offset and string courses beneath cross-windows with arched lights and relieving arches, corbelled support to the oriels, and a carved cornice. The first floor displays 2-light windows with trefoil-headed lights and quatrefoils beneath moulded arches with continuous hoodmoulds. The canted oriels have transomed windows of 1:2:1 lights with trefoiled heads and shields over. The second floor is distinguished by a frieze between two string courses set beneath double-chamfered 3-light windows with trefoiled heads, a carved cornice, and a parapet with roll-moulded copings. Octagonal tourelles at each corner feature blind arcading and pinnacles. The attic storey contains dormers with diagonal buttresses, ogee-headed 2-light windows, and coped gables with quatrefoils and poppyhead finials to the right of the tower. The oriel windows rise above the parapet with shields below windows of 2:2:2 lights, steeper-pitched hipped roofs flanked by stacks with upswept caps.

The tower forms the focal point of the composition. A moulded arch with three orders of colonnettes and hood-mould frames the main entrance. Roundels containing shields are positioned in the spandrels. A corbelled balcony at the second stage displays two cross-windows beneath pointed arches bearing the arms of Devonshire and Buccleuch in the tympana, with a quatrefoil between. A second corbelled balcony at the third stage level with the main parapet contains two tall lancets with transom panels inscribed with a carved bee and the letter B. Above this stage runs a string course with arcading, featuring a central niche housing a statue of Queen Victoria. Flanking corner turrets are corbelled octagonal structures at the third stage, framing louvred 2-light belfry openings set in moulded arches with colonnettes, traceried heads, and hoodmoulds. A quatrefoiled panel below the gable displays the date 1883 beneath the clock face, with the initials JR above. The turrets terminate in arcading and pinnacles. The octagonal top stage features cusped ogee openings beneath pointed arches, a balustrade topped by carved rams bearing shields.

The rear elevation is of two storeys and attic, with a central double-depth section containing a porte-cochere with a canted window above. A rounded stair turret occupies the angle between the main structure and a right-hand wing. The left wing features a lateral stair-turret projection and a rear gable containing a banqueting-hall window of four lights with a quinquefoil and relieving arch over, crowned with a cross. The right return contains a side entrance, buttresses, and a canted-bay projection.

The interior is exceptionally well-detailed. The vaulted lobby features a trefoiled inner door. The entrance hall contains an arcade with octagonal piers and carved capitals, beneath a carved fireplace bearing a plaque stating it was opened by the Marquis of Hartington on 14 July 1887. Carved corbels and curved braces support a beamed ceiling. A broad stone staircase with a trefoiled balustrade and half-landing ascends to the right.

The Queen's Hall above features 3-bay arcading on each side with quatrefoil piers and moulded arches, and a pointed-arched coffered ceiling. A canted bay window contains stained-glass panels dedicated to members of the Cavendish family. The lower panels display the Borough Arms and depict the industrial scene, while flanking panels show Furness Abbey and the arms of local families. A bust of Queen Victoria by Andreoni of Rome, presented by James Ramsden in 1887, is located here, alongside a marble statue of Labour (a man with a sledgehammer) by FM Miller, dated 1866.

The council chamber features an ashlar fireplace, panelling, and coving beneath a gallery. Stained glass depicts The Arts in the quatrefoils. A carved ashlar cornice surmounts a panelled ceiling with moulded oak beams. Contemporary furniture and pendant light fittings in the form of iron baskets are present.

The Drawing Room is panelled and features a carved ashlar fireplace bearing the Borough Arms and an oakleaf frieze. An oakleaf cornice with gilded shields adorns a ceiling of subdivided squares with gilded ribs. Brass electroliers provide lighting.

The Banqueting Hall contains panelling and an ashlar fireplace with quatrefoils and the Borough Arms. A minstrels' gallery on two arches is opposed by a similar arcade across the bay window. Coving extends beneath an end gallery, and hammer beams support pointed-arched roof trusses.

A secondary staircase in the left end of the building, constructed of stone on steel girders with an iron balustrade, features three tiers of arches on two sides of the stairwell.

The design won an open competition of 1876, although approval was delayed until 1881. The building was opened as part of Queen Victoria's Jubilee celebrations, costing approximately £80,000. Monograms of the first four mayors are inscribed above the clock faces. The statue of Queen Victoria and the rams with shields were carved by HT Miles of Ulverston.