Old Town Hall, Pontefract

For the town hall which replaced Pontefract Old Town Hall see Pontefract Town Hall

Old Town Hall, Pontefract
Old Town Hall
Shown in West Yorkshire
General information
Classification
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated15 November 1988
Reference no.1299877
Town or cityPontefract
CountryEngland
Coordinates53.6924°N 1.3093°W / 53.6924; -1.3093
Completed1785
Design and construction
ArchitectBernard Hartley I

The Old Town Hall is a former town hall in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It was completed in 1785 and was replaced by Pontefract Town Hall which was completed in 1882. It is a Grade II* listed building.

History

The town hall was designed by Bernard Hartley I of Pontefract as a municipal building with market room and gaol on the ground floor and assembley room on the first floor.[1]

The Nelson Room in the town hall contains the plaster cast relief (i.e. the mold) from which the final bronze relief of "The Death of Nelson at Trafalgar" found on the pedestal of Nelson's Column was made in 1849.[2] It was donated to the town by Benjamin Oliveira MP in 1855.[3]

The secret ballot was first used in the United Kingdom, and the result announced at the town hall, on 15 August 1872 to re-elect Hugh Childers as MP for Pontefract in a ministerial by-election following his appointment as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.[4]

The building was the seat of Government of Pontefract Borough Council.[5] The completion of the adjacent Pontefract Town Hall in 1882 removed any civic function for the Old Town Hall.[1] It was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1950.[1]

Architectural style

Exterior

The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar, with a pitched Welsh-slate roof. There are three storeys with a lower two-storey gaol to the rear. The elevation facing onto the marketplace has three bays, the middle one having been altered in the twentieth century by the installation of a glass front. The first floor windows are twelve-pane sashes, with a wrought iron balcony in the centre, while the second floor windows have smaller six-pane windows. There is a flagpole on the front, and a small wooden central clocktower above with a lead cupola above with weathervane.[1]

Interior

The assembly room is situated on the first floor has a large white-marble fireplace with a sleeping lion centrepiece. There is a magistrates' bench with coat of arms above. At the opposite end is a plaster cast of John Edward Carew's bronze relief of The Death of Nelson.[1]

References
  1. Historic England. "Old Town Hall (1299877)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  2. "Ponte's past uncovered!". BBC. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. "Pontefract Town Hall". Experience Wakefield. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  4. "BBC - A History of the World - Object : Pontefract's secret ballot box, 1872". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  5. "Pontefract Borough". Archives Hub. Retrieved 3 May 2020.


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