Old Town Hall, Oldham

The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in Yorkshire Street, Oldham, England. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]

Old Town Hall, Oldham
The Old Town Hall in Oldham
LocationYorkshire Street, Oldham
Coordinates53.5416°N 2.1111°W / 53.5416; -2.1111
Built1841
ArchitectGeorge Woodhouse
Architectural style(s)Greek revival style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated23 January 1973
Reference no.1201655
Shown in Greater Manchester

History

The building, which was designed by George Woodhouse in the Greek revival style, was completed in 1841 and extended in 1880.[1] It has a tetrastyle Ionic portico, copied from the temple of Ceres, on the River Ilisos, near Athens.[2] A blue plaque on the exterior of the building commemorates Winston Churchill making his inaugural acceptance speech from the steps of the town hall when he was first elected as a Conservative MP in 1900.[3]

The building became the headquarters of the Municipal Borough of Oldham in 1849 and the headquarters of the County Borough of Oldham in 1889.[4] Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited Oldham and inspected a guard of honour outside the town hall in October 1954.[5]

The town hall became the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in 1974 but, after the council moved to Oldham Civic Centre in 1977, the building stood empty for many years.[6] In October 2009 the Victorian Society declared the Town Hall as the most endangered Victorian structure in England and Wales.[7][8] Proposals were sought for the redevelopment of the building and, following works undertaken by Morgan Sindall to a design by the Building Design Partnership, it re-opened as a modern multiplex Odeon cinema in 2016.[9][10][11]

After a fund-raising campaign supported by the locally-born actress, Maxine Peake, a bronze statue of the local suffragette, Annie Kenney, funded by public subscription, was unveiled outside the building in December 2018.[12]

See also

References
  1. Historic England. "Town Hall, Oldham (1201655)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  2. Wilson, John Marius, Descriptive Gazetteer entry for OLDHAM, visionofbritain.org.uk, retrieved 2 November 2007
  3. Sykes, Lee (3 September 2008), Out of ideas for the old Town Hall, oldhamadvertiser.co.uk, retrieved 4 September 2008
  4. Barlow, Max (May 1995). "Greater Manchester: conurbation complexity and local government structure". Political Geography. 14 (4): 379–400. doi:10.1016/0962-6298(95)95720-I.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  5. "Long to rain over us!". Oldham Evening Chronicle. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  6. Ottewell, David (26 August 2006), "In danger, our creaking monuments to civic pride", Manchester Evening News, retrieved 1 November 2007
  7. The Victorian Society (2009). "We reveal our Top Ten Endangered buildings for 2009". victoriansociety.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 November 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  8. Culture24 Staff (12 October 2009). "Victorian Society reveals 10 most endangered buildings in England and Wales". culture24.org.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  9. Council, Oldham. "Old Town Hall". www.oldham.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  10. Bell, Alex (22 January 2015). "Oldham's 'Old Town Hall' regeneration project will create 230 jobs and provide major economic boost". Manchester Evening News. manchestereveningnews.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  11. "Oldham's Old Town Hall has been transformed into a £37m cinema and leisure complex... here's what it looks like". Manchester Evening News. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  12. "Hundreds - including Maxine Peake - turn out to see statue of Oldham suffragette Annie Kenney unveiled". Manchester Evening News. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
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