| Description | The Old Town Hall, Wakefield. Assembly rooms and civic building built 1798 1800.
'Includes No 16 King Street. 1798 1800, public building. 2 storeys and basement, 7 bays, tall proportions, Stucco. Low pitched swept roof of Welsh slate with stuccoed end chimneys. 1st floor round arched openings (the centre one larger) with sill and impost bands. Ground floor near flat arches. All windows sashes with glazing bars; radial heads on 1st floor. 3 stone steps to 4 Panel door, with tall, oblong fanlight, altered doorcase with flat surround and cornice. TOWN HALL incised on blocking course. On left side of door are wrought iron area railings with spike standards and urn finials'.
(English Heritage listed building description. Date listed 30/03/1971. http://list.english heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1259842. Web site accessed 13/11/2013).
The Old Town Hall was the subject of an archaeological building recording by Archaeological Services WYAS in 2000. This was part of a condition prior to the granting of full planning consent to refurbish the building to form offices (Wakefield Council planning reference number 99/99/32986/C. 'Renovation and refurbishment'). The recording work was based upon a specification provided by WYAAS.
The resulting report which contains copies of photographic prints and annotated plans is held by WYAAS (Archaeological Services WYAS. 2000).
The building recording revealed a structure which was purpose designed and built as a suite of public rooms in 1801. The south east and south west walls show signs of pre dating the main build and may have been part of buildings now removed fronting King Street and Chancery Lane. Wall foundations between King Street and Crown Court may be of medieval date.
The report provides a history of the site and a detailed building description. Only the north east facade is visible. It is two storeys high, with a basement, and has seven bays. It is built of brick with a (later) stucco finish. The roof has a shallow pitch with swept eaves and is of blue slate. The windows on the first floor have round arches with both sills and impost band in stone. The centre window is larger. The windows on the ground floor have near flat, probable, brick arches. The off centre door is approached by three stone steps. The doorcase is a later insertion and has a flat surround with a cornice and pediment, the tympanum inscribed 'TOWN HALL' may date to the 1850s. The ground floor has five units with a connecting corridor which runs the length of the rear of the building. The entrance hall and stair case occurs in the second unit (from the north west). The landing is in the same position on the first floor and leads to various rooms to the north west and a large hall to the south east. The basement has a number of small chambers which lead form the stair hall including service rooms and living accommodation. A passage runs to the rear of the four south eastern units.
Historical records indicate the original 1801 function of the various rooms. A news room was opened here in 1809. The assembly rooms were also the home of Wakefield's Literature and Philosophical Society. The Working Men's Education Centre was established here in 1840. The various first floor rooms functioned as a music/dance hall, theatre and billiard parlour. The ground floor rooms could have contained a library/news room and reception rooms. The basement was split between live in accommodation and storage. Upon incorporation of the town in 1848 the Assembly Rooms were taken over by the council and used as a town hall. The assembly rooms provided council meeting hall, offices and committee rooms. In later life, after the construction of the new town hall in 1877, the building had a commercial function; offices, a warehousing for various firms (possibly including a manure manufacturer). The present owners are the Wakefield MDC. |