98-469: Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds , West Yorkshire , England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built between 1853 and 1858 to a design by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick . With the building of the Civic Hall in 1933, some of these functions were relocated, and after
196-559: A 72 ft (22 m) span. This is thought to be the first example in wood, taken from the roof designs of Paxton's Crystal Palace and Lewis Cubitt 's King's Cross train shed, both also constructed in the 1850s. On 25 July 1853, the building contract was awarded to Samuel Atack, a Leeds builder and bricklayer, and Benjamin Musgrave, a dyer. It was for £41,835 and included a completion target of 1 January 1856; both elements eventually turned out to have been greatly underestimated. The building
294-643: A French inventor. Fairbairn suggested an improvement by which the process was simplified and a great saving effected. He proposed to use eighty spindles instead of forty, and to substitute screws for the old 'fallers' and 'gills.' John Anderson, a Glasgow workman, joined him in perfecting the machine, which was constructed in a small room in Lady Lane, Leeds. John Marshall , a prominent local flax-spinner, promised to replace his old machines with Fairbairn's as fast as they could be turned out. Fairbairn said that he had neither workshop nor money; Marshall encouraged him to take
392-469: A competition selecting the relatively unknown Brodrick to prepare a design, with construction underway by July 1853. The building cost much more than the original estimates due to rising prices and constant additions to its design throughout construction. The form of Leeds Town Hall has been used as a model for civic buildings across Britain and the British Empire, being one of the largest and earliest. As
490-435: A cost increase caused by rising prices of labour and materials. The total cost, after all structural and decoration contracts, is estimated to be around £125,000 (about £16 million in 2023) – and the council had to find extra funding at a time when there was great poverty among Leeds's working classes . There were many design revisions during the construction, such as the inclusion of an organ, which came to be regarded as
588-609: A cost limitation of £7,000, but this was again defeated by the Council. Opponents of the tower used the argument that "a tower would cost money and would only be good to look at, not to use". Proponents, led again by Dr John Deakin Heaton, wrote about the Continental associations of a grand and impressive town hall. He hoped that visitors would come to Leeds to see the Town Hall, and that a tower, at
686-521: A courtroom, police station, and a venue for concerts and civic events. It still has a role as a council office, though many departments have since relocated – most are now in Merrion House , opened 2018, and others, including a chamber for council meetings, are in the 1933 Civic Hall . The building is constructed of Rawden Hill millstone grit . As architectural master sculptors the Mawer Group produced
784-430: A cupola or small tower in early stages, to divert attention from an arched glazed roof which showed above the parapet. A firm named Addy and Nicholls was appointed contractors for the tower and interior work. The tower was not completed until after the Town Hall's official opening, with a 4 long tons 1 cwt (9,100 lb or 4.1 t) bell cast by John Warner & Sons hung in 1860, closely followed by
882-428: A deeply recessed portico of ten Corinthian columns, a frieze and then the 225 feet (68.6 m) high clock tower, which has a concave dome and was not in the original design. The three other sides of the building are similar to the south front, except that the columns and pilasters that surround them are near to the walls, and the spaces between them have two tiers of circular-headed windows. The principal entrance
980-404: A few additional thousand pounds, would provide the building with beauty beyond "mere utilitarianism". The following February, a compromise was reached when the Council voted to allow "a form of roof construction which might eventually permit the erection of a tower if at any time it should be thought desirable to do so". It was not until March 1856 that a tower (for £5,500) was formally approved by
1078-619: A full programme of music, comedy, and exhibitions uses this main space year-round. Several recurring cultural events use the Town Hall such as Leeds International Concert Season, the triennial Leeds International Piano Competition , and the Leeds International Film Festival . Other events include Leeds International Beer Festival, a four-day annual festival celebrating and promoting craft beer. The Headrow 53°47′58″N 1°32′42″W / 53.7995°N 1.5450°W / 53.7995; -1.5450 The Headrow
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#17328558660841176-568: A key heritage asset for the city, its history as a court and prison is demonstrated in guided tours for the public. Several recurring cultural events use the Town Hall as a performance space, such as the Leeds International Piano Competition . The Town Hall is classical in style but suggestive of power and drama. It stands at the top of a flight of steps on a mound made specially for the purpose of increasing its prominent position. The south, principal facade to The Headrow has
1274-741: A large three storey clothes store that opened in August 2005. Primark vacated the building in March 2015 and in August 2015 the building re-opened as a Sports Direct store. Today the street is one of Leeds's principal shopping streets. The former Permanent House, now known as The Light on the north side, houses a cinema, restaurants and a Radisson BLU Hotel. There is ground floor retail in Direct Line House (originally Headrow House) on Dortmund Square. St John's Shopping Centre and The Headrow Centre flank opposite sides of Dortmund Square, on The Headrow. Broad Gate
1372-456: A majority of nineteen. It would take the form of a cupola supported on columns akin to the Corinthian columns of the south facade. It is likely that Brodrick designed a tower before building even started, as suggested by such facts as its support from influential lobbyists from the outset, and the foundation walls being enlarged prematurely so that one could be added. Charles Barry too had suggested
1470-484: A new grand stair was built down to the basement. During the 1930s, original fittings, including a gallery designed by Brodrick, were lost in an enlargement of the classical Council Chamber. Victoria Square was altered again in 1937 with the removal of three statues, of Victoria, Robert Peel , and the Duke of Wellington , to Woodhouse Moor one mile from the city centre. At the same time the curved entrance steps were changed back to
1568-509: A portrait of Fairbairn by Sir Francis Grant , which hung in the council chamber, and for a bronze statue of him by Noble. Fairbairn was married twice; his first wife, by whom he had one son and two daughters, being Margaret, daughter of Mr. Robert Kennedy of Glasgow, died in 1843. In 1855 he married Rachel Anne, fourth daughter of Robert William Brandling, of Low Gosforth , Newcastle, and widow of Capt. Charles Bell, R.N.; she survived him. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
1666-400: A practical admonition to the populace of the value of beauty and art, and in course of time men would learn to live up to it". In July 1850, Leeds Town Council held a public meeting, the decision of which was that a "large public hall" should be built. Emulating St George's Hall, the council proposed to sell shares in the building to the value of £10 (equivalent to £1,351 in 2023) but there
1764-441: A public campaign funding some interior renovation costs. The three-year works will provide new seating and soundproofing, new bars and public event spaces in previously blocked-off rooms, comprehensive interior redecoration, modifications to two chandeliers to use dimmable LEDS, relocation of the box office to the ground level. The Scottish firm Page\Park Architects is responsible for all scheme designs. Works are also taking place to
1862-520: A straight set. Despite the cost overrunning more than threefold, Leeds Town Council considered the Town Hall a great investment and celebrated its new centrepiece. Arrangements for the Town Hall's opening were made well in advance. On 6 September 1858, the Queen arrived at Leeds Central railway station , met by crowds estimated to number 400,000 to 600,000. The Council had even established a sub-committee for street decorations – flags, banners and streamers lined
1960-530: A time capsule was installed in the clock tower, assembled by a group of young people working with Leeds Museums and Galleries . The capsule contains items such as a Nando's menu, nine Lego minifigures, a mobile phone, Leeds Owl artwork and a Refugee Education Training Advice Service cookery book donated by a woman who moved from Syria to Leeds in 2018. Despite its original purpose as the seat of local government in Leeds being taken over by subsequent council buildings,
2058-504: A town hall, having visited Europe and enviously remarked on the "famous old cities whose Town Halls are the permanent glory of the inhabitants and the standing wonder and delight of visitors from a distance". His, and other supporters', belief was that "if a noble municipal palace that might fairly view with some of the best Town Halls of the Continent were to be erected in the middle of their hitherto squalid and unbeautiful town, it would become
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#17328558660842156-530: A uniform neo-baroque style similar to Regent Street in London also designed by Reginald Blomfield. The buildings are clad in red brick and Portland stone as opposed to Portland stone only on Regent Street. The development of the Headrow as a road-widening scheme meant that the north side was constructed in the uniform style while the south side has a mixture of buildings from the 1800s to the present. The Odeon, which
2254-460: A venue for orchestral concerts. The frescoes adorning the domed ceiling of the vestibule (foyer) were the first attempt to embellish a provincial edifice with high art. In the centre of the vestibule stands an 8 ft (2.4 m)-high white marble statue of Queen Victoria, by Matthew Noble , presented to the Council upon the hall's opening as the gift of the mayor Sir Peter Fairbairn . The Town Hall provided accommodation for municipal departments,
2352-520: A year, acquiring technical knowledge; and after a period in the Manchester establishment of his brother William accepted a partnership with his former employer, Houldsworth. In 1828 he left Glasgow and began business in Leeds as a machine maker. He had no capital; but Leeds was then in the first flush of its manufacturing prosperity. Fairbairn had already devoted attention to flax-spinning machinery, which had been developed in Leeds by Philippe de Girard ,
2450-536: Is a 32 ft (9.8 m)-high archway under the south portico, which contains three highly ornamented wrought iron doors. The smaller, day-to-day entrance is to the east, facing Calverley Street. The Victoria Hall – originally the Great Hall – rises to 92 ft 6 in (28.19 m) inside the parallelogram of surrounding rooms and corridors and the enclosing colonnades. It is lined with marble-effect columns with gilt capitals and bases, with painted mottoes around
2548-535: Is an avenue in Leeds city centre , West Yorkshire , England. It is one of the most important thoroughfares in central Leeds, hosting many of the city's civic and cultural buildings, including Leeds Town Hall , Leeds Central Library , Leeds Art Gallery , The Henry Moore Institute , and The Light . Some of the largest retail floorplates in the city are on The Headrow, particularly between Park Row and Briggate , where major chains have opened flagship stores. The Headrow
2646-661: Is made from two pieces of Portland stone with zig-zag joints. Evidence of Brodrick's early interest in lion sculptures is documented in travel sketches from his European tour, at San Lorenzo Cathedral and the Palazzo dell'Università in Genoa, and the monument to Clement XIII in St Peter's, Rome. Inside the Victoria Hall, a gallery was added in 1874 and then replaced in 1890 by the current design by William Henry Thorp (1852–1944); there
2744-418: Is mostly of local Yorkshire stone, but the problems of finding enough large blocks of sufficient quality meant using millstone grit from 17 different quarries, which led to worries about whether the colour would match. Rawdon Hill stone was favoured for those parts of the building on which there would be carving; Derbyshire gritstone formed many of the columns. The foundation stone was laid on 17 August 1853, by
2842-527: Is one of the largest town halls in the United Kingdom. With a height of 225 feet (68.6 m) it was the tallest building in Leeds for 108 years from 1858 until 1966, when it lost the title to the Park Plaza Hotel , which stands 26 feet (8 m) taller at 253 feet (77 m). The distinctive baroque clock tower, which serves as a landmark and a symbol of Leeds, was not part of the initial design but
2940-486: Is part of a longer axis that includes Westgate, Eastgate , and Quarry Hill . The Headrow forms a spine across the city centre between Westgate and Eastgate and is approximately ½ mile (700 m) long. It was widened between 1928 and 1932 in a redevelopment designed by architect Reginald Blomfield , primarily as a way of improving traffic flow through city centre. The area has an advisory speed limit of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h). The section between Park Row and Briggate
3038-451: Is reserved for buses and taxis and cars/motorcycles are not permitted to use it between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. Appearing on maps in 1560, the Headrow once formed the northern edge or "head" of medieval Leeds' boundary, hence its name. To the east the street crossed Sheepscar Beck , a tributary of the River Aire now culverted, and continued, known as "The Street", to York. In the 17th century it
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3136-546: Is scheduled to reopen in 2022 in time for the Leeds 2023 city-wide cultural festival. The closure of Leeds Town Hall in November 2021 for refurbishment and conservation work provided an opportunity for extensive work on the Leeds Town Hall organ . The familiar casework and some of the pipes are being retained and repaired but all of the organ's mechanism, console and about a third of its 6,500 pipes are being made new. In 2019,
3234-417: The masks , as well as the putti on the side panels of the main entrance and on the clock tower. The four Portland stone lions on plinths along the frontage, an 1867 addition by the sculptor William Day Keyworth Jr, contrast with the sandstone of the building itself, and were modelled at London Zoo . The first two lions were unveiled on 15 February 1867, the soft Portland stone has subsequently eroded with
3332-445: The "symbolic, representative function of Leeds Town Hall increased during the period of its gestation and construction. In Brodrick's earlier scheme, the only thing that rose above its uninflected parapet was a low storey reminiscent of a theatre's fly tower in the centre. A magnificently sullen, passive building was transformed into a magnificently sullen, aggressive one, at the behest of the hall's promoters". Further modifications to
3430-411: The "wool capital of the world", took the lead in trying to elevate industrial Yorkshire towns with stately, grand architecture by building St George's Hall in 1851–53. It was a new status symbol, and as there was perpetual competition between Leeds and Bradford, calls grew within Leeds for its own town hall. The physician and social reformer Dr John Deakin Heaton became a major advocate and campaigner for
3528-585: The Council Chamber of the Town Hall was converted to a courtroom. On 14 and 15 March 1941, Leeds was bombed by the Luftwaffe . Houses were destroyed in inner-city districts and bombs dropped on the city centre, hitting the east side of the Town Hall, causing significant damage to its roof and walls on Calverley Street. The damage was repaired shortly after, but evidence still remains in Victoria Gardens. For
3626-544: The Headrow) which contained Park House and its gardens. This site was on the edge of the town centre of the time, but the project required a large parcel of land that was unavailable in the congested central streets. It was purchased from a wealthy merchant named John Blayds for the sum of £9,500 (equivalent to £1,313,856 in 2023). The scheme did not secure universal backing immediately; a council motion in February 1852 proposed it
3724-531: The Leeds coat of arms and from her own set of animal attributes. From left, the other four main figures are Industry with an anvil and a bale of cloth, Poetry and Music with a faun 's head and a flower- swag , Fine Arts with a Corinthian capital and a bust of Minerva , and Science with a compass , globe and tools. On the west and north elevations of the building, the fourteen keystone heads were being sculpted by Catherine Mawer's husband Robert , between 1853 and 1854, when he died. Catherine Mawer completed
3822-454: The Mayor's home down Woodhouse Lane to the city centre and back up to the top of East Parade where a temporary triumphal arch had been constructed to frame the building. The route had been carefully planned so Victoria and Albert could see much of the town without glimpsing the new Town Hall. With a red carpet and military band on the steps, they entered the building, she knighted the Mayor, and then
3920-428: The Town Hall continued to be made after its opening, beginning with the entrance steps being changed in part to semi-circular in the 1860s, Brodrick suggesting in 1867 that a larger skylight be put in each of the courts, and then, later in the same year, the placing of the four sculpted lions along the south front. Brodrick's final touches to the Town Hall, the lions are the work of William Day Keyworth Jr of Hull, and each
4018-683: The Town Hall retains an active role in the civic and cultural life of the city. Conferences, weddings, and civil partnerships take place in the Albert Room and the Brodrick Suite, which have been converted from the former courtroom and Council Chamber and are home to a register office . The opulent Victoria Hall is a venue for many performances – its 6,600-pipe organ is still the largest three-manual example in Europe – regular lunchtime organ recitals are given by City Organist Simon Lindley and others, while
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4116-507: The Wellington foundry at the New Road End, which was then to let. Fairbairn became in time independent of Marshall's support. Further improvements were introduced, and he constructed woollen as well as flax machinery. His improvement in the roving-frame, and his adaptation of what is known as the 'differential motion' to it, his success in working the 'screw gill' motion, and his introduction of
4214-547: The West Riding, Bradford, London and Birmingham. Local reporters delightedly proclaimed that on that day, as the head of the Empire was in Leeds, the town was briefly her capital. The building was officially opened on 7 September by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert , though the tower was still incomplete. Vast crowds turned out to watch the royal procession, including 32,000 schoolchildren assembled on Woodhouse Moor. She proceeded from
4312-408: The architect's and Town Hall Committee's frustration. These problems ultimately led to Atack's bankruptcy in March 1857; several other local contractors were appointed to complete the project. Whatever the council's doubts in the early days, it now appeared determined that nothing was too good for their Town Hall. They provided finance on an unprecedented scale, for mayor's reception rooms described by
4410-479: The attempt to raise funds by public subscription has failed, it is the opinion of this Council desirable to erect a Town Hall, including suitable corporate buildings". The sum voted was £22,000 for the building and £9,500 for the land. It was intended to represent Leeds's emergence as an important industrial centre during the Industrial Revolution and symbolise civic pride and confidence. A council committee
4508-503: The building blocks by the masons before the blocks were hoisted into place. The architectural sculptors would ascend ladders and scaffolds to carve the fine art pieces in public view. The sculptor credited for the general carving work on the building is Catherine Mawer , whose stoneyards were in Oxford Place on the west side of the building, and George Street (now Great George Street) on the north side. Her nephew William Ingle , who ran
4606-416: The building of a large hall made this possible. Since then many meetings, conferences, and exhibitions have been held in the Town Hall. In the 19th century, some major trials were held here, including those of Charles Peace in 1879, and Kate Dover in 1882. The Town Hall and entirely new Victoria Square, built on the site of a single house and garden, and which when completed was completely outsize for what
4704-543: The building. Atack fell out with Brodrick early in the construction due to Brodrick's constant redesigning of details and disputes about work not being up to his specifications. Army recruitment for the Crimean War , which began in October 1853, caused a shortage of workmen and a rise in wages. Due to this and it being a period of full employment, the labour force fluctuated throughout the Town Hall's construction, slowing it, much to
4802-629: The buildings of the present reign, not to the Law Courts or in the Houses of Parliament, but to some provincial towns, where possibly the hurry and rush of life have not been as great as in the capital. Leeds Town Council tendered for designs from architects in 1852, in an open competition , a common method of selecting architects for important buildings in the 19th century. The brief was for a kind of building that did not yet exist in England, combining under one roof
4900-579: The city. Support among the public and interest groups also helped – the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society was in strong support of the hall, as was the recently formed Leeds Improvement Society (despite its doubts on the council's competence to deliver it). Heaton, its secretary, reminded dissatisfied ratepayers throughout the decade that the Town Hall was important if the city were to discard its image of being an architectural backwater with few buildings of merit. No one would wish to underestimate
4998-469: The clock mechanism, installed by Dent of London (the dials designed by Edmund Beckett Denison , installed by Potts ) one storey above the bell. The grand entrance hall originally envisaged, with a screen of columns leading to the great hall, had to be abandoned in favour of a cramped vestibule to support the tower above, but this was considered a worthy price for the extra drama and power a tower would provide. The film-maker Jonathan Meades reflected that
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#17328558660845096-403: The clock tower and roof, including replacement of all tiles with Welsh slate; the roof project is being designed and managed by NPS Group. As part of the roof works, contractors discovered on the 225 ft (69 m) dome a plaque dated 1861 placed by the last men to work on it. The plaque reads: "This dome was stripped and old lead put on after by Herbert Westcombe and Joseph Nett". The building
5194-622: The competition was given to the partners Henry Francis Lockwood (under whom Brodrick had trained) and William Mawson , who had designed St George's Hall , Bradford in 1849, and later went on to build Bradford City Hall from 1869. The major elements of Brodrick's design used a distinctly Roman style, quite different from any of the others submitted, which used a strong entrance colonnade and rectangular plan, and took inspiration from French buildings of recent decades. Barry may have been attracted to its rationality, order, and logic. His first design included recesses on its east and west sides, but this
5292-468: The construction of the Leeds Combined Court Centre in 1993, the Town Hall now serves mainly as a concert, conference and wedding venue, its offices still used by some council departments. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1951. Imagined as a municipal palace to demonstrate the power and success of Victorian Leeds, and opened by Queen Victoria in a lavish ceremony in 1858, it
5390-531: The contract was revealed to have been won by Cuthbert Brodrick , a young architect from Hull who was unknown outside his home town. He had travelled extensively in Europe in 1844–45 and acquired a love for its classical architecture. He was only twenty-nine when he won the competition for the Town Hall, but later designed some of Victorian Leeds's noted landmarks – the Corn Exchange , Mechanics' Institute and Cookridge Street Swimming Baths. Second place in
5488-418: The conviction of Zsiga Pankotia for the murder of Jack Eli Myers in 1961. Pankotia became the last man to be hanged at Armley Gaol . For much of the 20th century, the Town Hall was left blackened by soot and smoke from the industrial city surrounding it. In spring 1972 the building was given its first official clean-up – on previous occasions it had been hosed down by the fire brigade – which revealed much of
5586-689: The council, and others. Celebrations continued with a civic banquet, festivities on Woodhouse Moor , and fireworks. During the works, Brodrick is reported as being "determined to see the scheme through 'whatever the cost'". Extracts from the log-book of the Clerk of Works , James Donaldson, surviving at West Yorkshire Archive Service , reveal Brodrick's insistence on the highest quality of work. Recurrent complaints include slow progress, poor workmanship, poor quality of stone, and insufficient through stones ; Atack and Musgrave were more used to building mills than fine, large-scale public buildings. A January 1854 note from
5684-435: The coupled fluted pilasters and ornamented frieze, has an elaborate ceiling incorporating delicately painted glass panels. Though Brodrick's red Morocco upholstered furnishings and the original gallery were removed in the 1930s, the room is a characteristic example of a Classical form of decoration which evidently appealed to Brodrick. Unique variations to the decorative capitals of the interior were devised by Brodrick to express
5782-478: The courtroom in 1991. In 1993, Leeds Combined Court Centre opened on Westgate, ending the Town Hall's role as a courthouse; its police station and cells (Bridewell) were closed at the same time. During its time as Leeds Assizes and later the Crown Court, the Town Hall held various notable cases, including the conviction and life-sentencing of Stefan Kiszko for the murder of Lesley Molseed in 1976 (later quashed) and
5880-408: The crowning glory; town halls elsewhere followed suit. Another example is the ventilation turrets (now considered part of its character but which caused alarm when they first appeared) and the vases on the roof parapet, which Brodrick only requested the extra money for from the council after trial ornaments had been ordered. Brodrick never shied from asking for additional sums to perfect his building, so
5978-458: The detailed stonework. This was strongly opposed by the Leeds Civic Trust , which preferred that its blackness "should stand as a symbol of the city's industrial past and as a reminder to future generations of the air pollution which the city is so successfully combatting". A major refurbishment project of the whole building commenced in 2019, funded by Leeds City Council's capital fund, with
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#17328558660846076-529: The diary records that Musgrave "objected to the dressing of so much of the face of the rubble walling generally and the expensive manner in which [he was] required to execute the wall". In March 1855 "Mr Brodrick was so dissatisfied with the Rawdon Hill stone being used that he took a hammer and destroyed a cornice stone to prevent it being used". Various other problems beset the project, which faced deadline pressures arising from Queen Victoria 's agreement to open
6174-494: The duration of World War II , the Town Hall crypt housed an ARP post and from 1942 a British Restaurant , where people could enjoy cheap, hot food, which proved popular after the war, being refurbished in 1960 before closing in 1966. In 1951, the Town Hall was designated a Grade I listed building , a status applied to structures of exceptional architectural and historic interest, and which offers statutory protection against unauthorised demolition or modification. A fire damaged
6272-403: The first, second and third-placed entrants. Only sixteen entries were received, which was fewer than expected, perhaps due to combination of the small prize amounts and the Council's non-commitment to employing the winning architect. Entries were anonymised and entered under noms de plume for impartiality. A design entered under the name " Honor alit Artes " was recommended by Charles Barry, and
6370-419: The functions of moot halls, concert rooms, and courthouses, along with municipal offices and a suite of reception rooms for the mayor. Even the monumental edifice of St George's Hall , Liverpool , only contained a public hall, a small concert hall, and assize courts. The ambitious brief also asked for space for 8,000 people, but the relatively modest budget attracted ridicule, and costs did indeed rise throughout
6468-699: The hall was declared open on her behalf by the Prime Minister, the Earl of Derby . Later, the Queen was escorted to Wellington station to travel north to Balmoral . On 22 September 1858, only a fortnight after the opening of the Town Hall, the British Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting in Leeds. For many years Leeds had wanted to host a meeting of the British Association, and
6566-480: The historian Derek Linstrum as "splendidly furnished", portraits of William Wilberforce and Charles James Fox , and a marble medallion of Napoleon III and Eugénie . Brodrick participated in all the details of decoration in the public rooms, which each had their own character, though the richest effects were reserved for the Council Chamber in the southeast corner (now known as the Albert Room), which, in addition to
6664-406: The importance of the metropolis, but, after all, it is not in London that we find the best specimens of our English architecture ... It is in what were once provincial cities or hamlets that we discover the most venerable and the most striking memorials of the taste and self-consecration of our forefathers. And the time may come when the archaeologist of a future age will look for the best specimens of
6762-408: The majority of the decorative carving. This did not include the rusticated and vermiculated base, the "giant" columns and fluted pilasters, the parapet with vases, or the basic detailing to the tower and ventilation turrets , which were the work of masons including Thomas Whiteley, who was associated with Robert Mawer. In preparation for the sculptural work, the carving areas were roughed out on
6860-414: The mayor, John Hope Shaw. Sizeable crowds were present at the ceremony, in which the Mayor placed into the stone's cavity some items of the era to form a time capsule , including coins and newspapers, and laid mortar on the stone with a silver trowel ( on public display at Leeds City Museum). Subsequent speeches were followed by a long procession consisting of brass bands , Brodrick, magistrates, members of
6958-511: The most perfect gem out of London". Unlike most assessors, Barry continued to show an interest in Brodrick and the progress of the Town Hall under construction. Next, the Committee took the unusual step of insisting in a clause in Brodrick's contract stating that he would receive no payment beyond that of the accepted estimate of £39,000 if the work costs exceeded it. Brodrick agreed to this clause, with
7056-547: The project. The "Instructions to Architects" made no prescription about which style the design should use, the use of the prevalent Neoclassical style being the unwritten assumption. Sir Charles Barry , at the time still occupied rebuilding the Palace of Westminster , was persuaded to advise the Town Hall Committee in their judging, which gave the competition considerable status. Premiums of £200, £100, and £50 were awarded to
7154-413: The purposes of cutting, twisting, boring, and tearing iron and steel: cannon-rifling machines, milling machines, planing and slotting machines, and others. His foundry had become a major concern before his death, on 4 January 1861. In 1836 Peter Fairbairn was elected to the Leeds town council, on which he sat until 1842, resigning in that year on account of the increasing demands of his business. In 1854 he
7252-594: The qualification that it would not apply if costs increased for reasons beyond his control, and a sub-committee was formed to "superintend the progress of the works". No public building so large had been erected in the town before. It has almost as large a footprint as the Temple Works flax mill in Holbeck (1840). Brodrick was also interested in bold new techniques. The roof of the Victoria Hall uses an innovative system of laminated wooden beams, held by wrought-iron bolts, with
7350-432: The rotary gill, were all factors in the growth of mechanical efficiency. Other inventions included machines for preparing and spinning silk waste , and improvements in machinery for making rope yarn . The construction engineering tools was later included at the Wellington foundry, and the Crimean War gave an impetus to this branch of the business. Fairbairn constructed large machines, utilised at Woolwich and Enfield, for
7448-418: The stoneyards, carved all the sheep head reliefs , which represent the fleece . He was also responsible for the team that produced the general architectural sculpture . The tympanum above the south entrance is by the sculptor John Thomas (1813–1862). The figures represent Progress, Art and Commerce. The central figure is Athena , who has a laurel wreath , distaff , judicial chair , and owls taken from
7546-597: The street became Eastgate, the Headrow and Westgate, though portions of Park Lane remain at the far end of Westgate. Developments included the construction of Permanent House , the headquarters of the Leeds Permanent Building Society , Lewis's department store and the Odeon Cinema , which opened as the Paramount Theatre . Headrow House was constructed in the 1950s. The redevelopment is designed in
7644-589: The streets of the city. She stayed the night at Woodsley House on Clarendon Road, the home of the Mayor, Peter Fairbairn, with tight military security. The day was combined with an exhibition of local manufactures, held in the Cloth Hall , and a music festival. William Sterndale Bennett was appointed conductor and was commissioned to write a pastoral The May Queen for the occasion. The festival opened with Mendelssohn 's Elijah and closed with Handel 's Messiah . Leeds City Police were reinforced with officers from
7742-403: The town's history, including such motifs from the coat of arms of Leeds as pairs of owls, and the ram's head, symbolising the golden fleece on which the prosperity of Leeds was based. The dominant criticism during the hall's construction was its cost – the council originally granted £39,000 for construction (increased from the 1851 grant of £22,000), but Atak's contract was for a sum of £41,835,
7840-455: The walls, including "Good Will towards Men", "Trial by Jury", and "Forward". The decoration was by John Crace , and, combined with the cut-glass chandeliers and the largest organ in Europe when opened, led one writer to say that it was "the best place in Britain to see what it looked like on the inside of a wedding cake". As the principal performance space, the richly decorated Victoria Hall is still
7938-519: The weather. Until 1813, the seat of Leeds Corporation was the Moot Hall of 1618, on Briggate , which was also used for judicial purposes. Leeds went through a period of rapid growth in the first half of the 19th century and by the mid-19th century it became apparent that the court house was no longer large enough for the functions it performed; it was demolished in 1825 and replaced by a new court house on Park Row . The neighbouring town of Bradford ,
8036-469: The western end of the Headrow is Victoria Gardens, Leeds' Speakers' Corner , best known as the location of the war memorial, and where justice and anti-war rallies have gathered and terminated. The area is surrounded by Leeds Town Hall, Leeds City Art Gallery, The Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Central Library. The mother church of the Methodist District of Leeds, Oxford Place Methodist Mission, fronts
8134-483: The western side, while The Light shopping centre is on the eastern side. In 1980, the area between Headrow House and Lewis store was converted to Dortmund Square. To celebrate ten years of twinning the people of Dortmund presented the people of Leeds with a bronze statue, sculpted by Arthur Shulze-Engels, of the Dortmund Drayman which stands in the square. Peter Fairbairn Sir Peter Fairbairn (1799–1861)
8232-494: Was "unwise and inexpedient to proceed with the Hall". This, and other motions to limit its costs, were defeated by small majorities, but they demonstrated that financial prudence was a strong compulsion for some Victorian local politicians, who disliked incurring civic expense without genuine proof of public advantage. These happened to be in a minority in Leeds, which in the same year backed other large projects such as installing sewers for
8330-566: Was a Scottish engineer, inventor, and mayor of Leeds , West Yorkshire. Peter Fairbairn was the youngest brother of Sir William Fairbairn , born at Kelso in Roxburghshire in September 1799. He had little education, and his father obtained a situation for him in 1811 in the Percy Main colliery at Newcastle-on-Tyne . For three years Peter continued at Percy Main, until, at the age of fourteen, he
8428-402: Was a residential area, effectively altered the balance of the whole town and led to a great development northwards and westwards from City Square , the former centre. Leeds Civic Hall , on a nearby site further up Calverley Street, was commissioned in 1929 in a Keynesian project intended to provide work for the local unemployed. The Civic Hall opened in 1933 as the seat of Leeds City Council;
8526-523: Was added by Brodrick in 1856 as the civic leaders sought to make an even grander statement. The project to build the Town Hall came about as Leeds underwent rapid growth and industrialisation during the 19th century, helped by a desire to compete with Bradford and symbolise Leeds's dominance within the region. Proceedings began in July 1850, carried through by a dedicated committee of the Town Council, which held
8624-538: Was also an 1894 redecoration of the Victoria Hall by John Dibblee Crace in a buff and white colour scheme, replacing his father J G Crace 's 1857 green colours. In 1905, a memorial to Queen Victoria by George Frampton was unveiled in Victoria Square to the south front, replacing a fountain, while the number of windows on the Calverley Street and Victoria Square corner was increased from three to five. In 1907,
8722-467: Was apprenticed to a millwright and engineer in Newcastle. He walked every day from Percy Main to Newcastle. During his apprenticeship he made the acquaintance of Henry Houldsworth of Glasgow, a mechanic and constructor of cotton machinery, under whom he was placed as foreman, ultimately being appointed traveller to the firm. In 1821 he left Houldsworth to take a situation on the continent. In France he stayed
8820-505: Was built in 1932 and occupied by Lewis's from 1932-1996, it was then occupied by Allders from 1996-2005. After the closure of Allders in 2005, Broad Gate was closed for refurbishment. Since 2008, half of the Broad Gate building has been transformed into offices and the other half has remained open to the public as separate retail units occupied by retailers including Sainsbury's , T.K. Maxx , Argos and Clas Ohlson . In 2016 Clas Ohlson
8918-525: Was closed and In 2017 the unit was re-opened by Home Sense . Opposite the former Odeon cinema is Crash Records, which has been a fixture of the Leeds music scene for over 30 years. The Light houses a 13-screen multiplex cinema operated by Vue and a Virgin Active Gym, Radisson BLU Hotel and restaurants and bars. There are several art galleries on The Headrow axis, including the major Leeds City Art Gallery , Henry Moore Institute and New Briggate gallery. At
9016-448: Was elected an alderman, and, after being appointed a magistrate, was mayor in 1857–8 and 1858–9. Leeds Town Hall was opened by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert during his mayoralty, and Fairbairn, who distinguished himself as a host, received the honour of knighthood. During his mayoralty the British Association visited Leeds. He presented to the town hall a statue of the queen by Matthew Noble . The inhabitants of Leeds subscribed for
9114-420: Was established to assess the opinions of Leeds's inhabitants. It sent delegations to other large towns including Manchester and Liverpool to investigate their plans for building public halls. In July 1851, it presented a report, with consultees including Joseph Paxton , the designer of The Crystal Palace . The report's recommendation identified a site for the hall on what was then Park Lane (since redeveloped into
9212-487: Was fortunate for there to be a council majority for building to the highest standards. The most controversial modification was the inclusion of the tower. A precedent existed for them on public buildings at Liverpool Town Hall and the Royal Exchange , London. A design of a tower by Brodrick, to cost £6,000, was rejected in February 1853, but it was debated at great length and the proposal resurfaced in September 1854 with
9310-492: Was little public interest. In October, a councillor proposed introducing a specific rate levied to fund its construction instead of using a joint stock company. A decision was deferred until after the municipal election of November 1850 to give ratepayers a chance to express their views. The town hall was approved in January 1851 when the motion was put to the council and carried by twenty-four votes to twelve. The resolution read: "As
9408-401: Was renamed Parke Lane, Burley Bar, Upper Head Row and Lower Head Row. Renamed again in the 19th century, at the junction with Albion Street the street ran to the east as Upperhead Row and Lowerhead Row and to the west as Park Lane and Guildford Street – once home to St Anne's Cathedral which was demolished in November 1904 and relocated to Cookridge Street. More recently, running east-to-west,
9506-491: Was soon updated with extra offices, resulting in a commanding rectangular mass. The Town Hall Committee initially had reservations after selecting Brodrick, mostly relating to his youth, and asked Barry for confirmation of Brodrick's abilities in the construction of such a large building; Barry responded with high praise: that he was "fully satisfied that the Council might trust [Brodrick] with the most perfect safety", and that "a building constructed according to these plans would be
9604-424: Was the last picture palace in the city centre, closed due to competition with local multiplexes and the impending opening of a thirteen screen multiplex at The Light retail and leisure complex originally operated by Ster Century and now Vue , it closed in 2001. The building which was originally to be converted to an apartment & leisure complex but was almost immediately bought by Primark who converted it into
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