Old Town Hall, Wigan

The Old Town Hall was a former municipal facility at the corner of King Street and Rodney Street in Wigan, England. The building, which was demolished in September 2013, had been designated a Grade II listed building in 1990.

1. History

The first town hall in Wigan, located at the western side of the Market Place, was commissioned by the James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore and Sir Robert Bradshaigh, the town's representatives in parliament. It was designed in the neoclassical style with arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held and completed in 1720. The older building remained in use until its demolition in 1882. The building now referred to as the "old town hall" was the second of three seats of local government in Wigan; it was built on a plot at the corner of King Street and Rodney Street in Wigan, between 1866 and 1867. Designed by local architects Nuttall & Cook, the two-storey Italianate style structure was built largely of brick in Flemish bond, except for its sandstone ashlar ground floor and some sandstone dressings; the roof was of slate. It cost £12,000 to build, the equivalent of about £1.45 million in 2023. The design included large round-headed windows with pilasters between them on the ground floor and square-headed sashed windows with architraves on the first floor; there was a cast-iron parapet above that decorated with urns on pedestals. The new building was originally used as the borough courts until civic leaders move their offices into the building in 1882. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the town hall on 20 May 1938 just before the start of the Second World War. In order to meet the expanding accommodation needs of County Borough of Wigan, some departments moved into a new civic centre which was opened by the Leader of the council, Alderman Ernest Ball, on 22 April 1970. The old town hall continued to be the headquarters of the council until the county borough was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974. It then served as the headquarters of the Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council until 1990, when the council moved its staff to the new Town Hall, formerly the home of the Wigan Mining and Technical College. The old Town Hall subsequently remained vacant, and fell into a state of disrepair. Part of the rear of the building was demolished, leaving the remainder insecure. A planning application to redevelop the site as office accommodation and 133 residential units was submitted in 2007. After this proposal did not proceed, the building was completely demolished in September 2013.

1. See also

Listed buildings in Wigan

1. References


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Nearby Places View Menu

Wigan urban area

The Wigan Urban Area is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics consisting of the built-up, or 'urbanised' area containing Wigan in Greater Manchester and Skelmersdale in West Lancashire. The Urban Area includes the integrated conurbation around Wigan, (containing the contiguous areas of Ince-in-Makerfield and Wigan itself), along with the outlying areas of Standish, Abram and the West Lancashire town of Skelmersdale. The Wigan Urban Area has a total population of 175,405. This is an increase of 5% on the 2001 figure of 166,840.

Neighbourhood

Wigan Town Hall

The new Town Hall is a former technical college in Library Street, Wigan, England which was converted into a municipal facility in 1990. It is a Grade II listed building.

Government Landmark

Wigan Darlington Street railway station

Wigan Central railway station was a railway station near the centre of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.

Train

Wigan

Wigan ( WIG-ən) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, 16 miles (25.7 km) to the south-east, and Liverpool, 17 miles (27 km) to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town has a population of 107,732 and the wider borough of 330,714. Wigan is part of the historic county of Lancashire. Wigan was in the territory of the Brigantes, an ancient Celtic tribe that ruled much of what is now Northern England. The Brigantes were subjugated in the Roman conquest of Britain and the Roman settlement of Coccium was established where Wigan lies. Wigan was incorporated as a borough in 1246, following the issue of a charter by King Henry III of England. At the end of the Middle Ages, it was one of four boroughs in Lancashire established by royal charter. The Industrial Revolution saw a dramatic economic expansion and rapid rise in population. Wigan became a major mill town within a large coal mining district; there were estimated to be 1,000 pit shafts in total within 5 miles (8 km) of Wigan town centre. Coal mining ceased in the later 20th century. Wigan Pier, a wharf on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, was made famous by the writer George Orwell. In his book The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), Orwell highlighted the poor working and living conditions of inhabitants in the 1930s. Following the decline of heavy industry, Wigan Pier's warehouses and wharves became a local heritage centre and cultural quarter. The Brick Community Stadium (formerly known as DW Stadium) is home to Wigan Athletic Football Club and Wigan Warriors Rugby League Football Club.

Landmark Neighbourhood