Classic town hall that has a niche in history

The Town Hall on Manchester Road was opened in 1888. Burnley had become a borough in 1861 and at first the council met in a room above the fire station, which was situated on the opposite site of Manchester Road, at its junction with Finsleygate.

The room used was fitted out with a new carpet, table and chairs for the mayor and town clerk.

A sum of 10s 6d was paid for fire insurance even though a fire engine stood in the room below.

The council room at the fire station was not very satisfactory and in 1867 the Public Hall in Elizabeth Street, built in 1861, was purchased for use as a town hall. This building had previously served as an assembly room, theatre and even had a swimming pool, the Albert Baths. It still stands having later served variously as a technical school, school clinic, council planning department and a training centre for Endsleigh Insurance.

It is at present occupied by Calico Housing Ltd.

The new "town hall" was not, however, ideal -- there was a story that on one occasion the baths leaked into the council chamber -- and by the 1880s it was clear that a new building was required.

One suggestion put forward was that the Market Hall, opened in 1879, should be converted to a town hall with council chamber, offices and an assembly hall.

This scheme was not accepted and in 1883 it was decided that a purpose-built town hall should be erected on Manchester Road, with a police station, court and baths. This proved to be a timely move as in 1884, the Elizabeth Street building was declared unsafe and the baths were closed.

An open competition was held to select the architect, judged by Alfred Waterhouse who had designed Manchester Town Hall.

The winners were Holtom and Fox, of Dewsbury. Their original design included a high central tower with two flanking domes but the council thought this would be too expensive and so only a lower central dome was approved.

When the council decided to revert to the original design, the foundations, which had already been installed, were insufficient to bear the additional weight and so the revised plans had to be carried out.

The building is in classical style and outside there are 14 niches intended to hold statues of Burnley "worthies." They have never been filled.

The Town Hall was opened in October, 1888, with great ceremony. In addition to the council chamber, committee rooms, mayor's parlour, anteroom and reception room, the building contained the town clerk's, borough treasurer's and other offices. It also housed the police station and court and adjacent to it were the Central Baths, which replaced those at the Public Hall. By the 1930s, the offices in the Town Hall had become very overcrowded and new extensions were added at the rear of the building.

In 1979 ambitious plans were drawn up to include the building in a vast new civic centre complex. There was considerable opposition to this and the idea was abandoned in 1980.

Previously, in 1973, the Victorian wall panelling and furnishings of the council chamber were removed and sold to the Americans.

The modern replacements are not generally thought to be an improvement. Fortunately, the fine decorated ceiling, which depicts the coats-of-arms of Lancashire Boroughs, and lists events in the town's history,was kept and restored.

Guided walks as part of Heritage Days

HERITAGE Open Days are an annual celebration of England's architecture, history and culture, co-ordinated nationally by the Civic Trust with the support of English Heritage.

Among over 20 free Heritage Open Days events taking place in the town are several guided walks led by contributors to the "Bygone Burnley" series.

On Friday Brian Hall will lead a walk around some of the Victorian buildings in the town centre, starting at the Town Hall at 11am. In the afternoon there will be a tour of Burnley Cemetery led by Molly Haines. This will commence at 2.30pm at the bottom gate on Cemetery Lane, off Rossendale Road. Molly has written a history of the cemetery entitled In Loving Memory, which has just been published by Burnley and District Historical Society.

It costs £1.70 and is on sale at Burnley Central Library Local Studies Department, Badger Books, and the Weavers' Triangle Visitor Centre.

On Saturday St Peter's Parish Church and Heritage Centre is open between 10am and noon, and at 11am Ken Spencer will talk about the memorials in the church and churchyard.

In the afternoon there will be a guided towpath walk through the Weavers' Triangle, led by Brian Hall, starting at the Weavers' Triangle Visitor Centre on Manchester Road at 2.15pm.

It ends at the Oak Mount Mill engine house on Wiseman Street, off Westgate which will be open to the public from 2pm-4pm.

All the above events are free. Details of these and all the other Heritage Open Days events in Burnley are given in a leaflet, which is available from the Information Centre on the Bus Station, libraries and the Town Hall.