Wednesday, December 01, 2010

ABC Wednesday
T is for Todmorden Town Hall


Todmorden Town Hall was designed by John Gibson and opened in 1875. It straddles Walsden Water, a tributary of the River Calder, and was situated in both Lancashire and Yorkshire until the administrative county boundary was moved in January 1888.

This view down Halifax Road from St Mary's churchyard shows the Southern aspect. One interesting external feature of the town hall is the pediment. The fine carved stonework has two central female figures on a pedestal. The left hand one represents Lancashire (cotton spinning and weaving industries) and the right hand one Yorkshire (engineering and agriculture).

This second view shows the Western side on Burnley Road towards the market and bus station. Plans have recently been approved for an extensive refurbishment of the exterior and interior of the building and turning the basement into a café and heritage exhibition space.


Looking back from the market we see that the Northern aspect of the Town Hall has a contrasting semi-circular shape. St Mary's church can be seen on the right.

For a wider, coloured view see Geograph.

Visit ABC Wednesday for more T posts.

9 comments:

  1. Boundaries eh? We have seen them change so much in the many years we have lived here I don't think it could happen anywhere else?
    Any snow your way?

    Dxx

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  2. A beautiful building, a great entry for ABC Wednesday,
    Costas

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  3. Great looking building and your photos are terrific! I always enjoy the history to go with the photos!

    Sylvia

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  4. What a magnificent building. It seems very Northern to me. There's something about all those Victorian halls up there that gives a certain flavour to the towns.

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  5. nice TOWN, esp the cross.
    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

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  6. That's quite an imposing town hall and a terrific choice for T day.

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  7. Great photography, capturing some beautiful architecture. Enjoyable read. Thanks!

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