Old Town Hall, Wigan

Municipal building in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England

Old Town Hall

Old Wigan Town Hall

Location| Wigan
Coordinates| 53°32′38″N 2°37′48″W﻿ / ﻿53.5440°N 2.6299°W﻿ / 53.5440; -2.6299
Built| 1867
Architect| Nuttall & Cook
Architectural style(s)| Italianate style

Listed Building – Grade II

Designated| 12 November 1990
Reference no.| 1384480

Shown in Greater Manchester

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,[1] had been designated a Grade II listed building in 1990.[2][3]

## History

[edit]

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.[4] It was designed in the neoclassical style with arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held and completed in 1720.[5][6] The older building remained in use until its demolition in 1882.[7]

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.[2] 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.[2] It cost £12,000 to build,[7] the equivalent of about £1.45 million in 2023.[a] 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.[2] The new building was originally used as the borough courts until civic leaders move their offices into the building in 1882.[8]

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the town hall on 20 May 1938 just before the start of the Second World War.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12]

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.[13] After this proposal did not proceed, the building was completely demolished in September 2013.[14]

## See also

[edit]

* Greater Manchester portal

* Listed buildings in Wigan

## References

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

1. ^ United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth "consistent series" supplied in Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2024), "What Was the U.K. GDP Then?", MeasuringWorth, retrieved 15 July 2024

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ "Wigan's 'worst car park' to get a facelift". Wigan Today. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
2. ^ a b c d "Former Town Hall". Historic England. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
3. ^ "Old Town Hall". Wigan Buildings. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
4. ^ Moule (1837), p. 363
5. ^ "Wigan Town Hall". Wigan Album. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
6. ^ Farrer, William; Brownbill, J. (1911). "'Townships: Wigan', in A History of the County of Lancaster". London: British History Online. pp. 68–78. Retrieved 6 August 2020.68-78&rft.pub=British+History+Online&rft.date=1911&rft.aulast=Farrer&rft.aufirst=William&rft.au=Brownbill,+J.&rft_id=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp68-78&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Old+Town+Hall,+Wigan" class="Z3988">
7. ^ a b Fletcher (2005), p. 112
8. ^ "Wigan Town Trail" (PDF). Winged Wheels. p. 14. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
9. ^ "Royal Visits to Wigan" (PDF). Wigan Council. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
10. ^ "Wigan – Civic Centre". Modern Mooch. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
11. ^ "Local Government Act 1972". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
12. ^ "History of Wigan Town". Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
13. ^ "At Risk: Wigan Old Town Hall". www.savewigan.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 November 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
14. ^ "Old Wigan town hall being demolished". Gill Demolitions. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2020.

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Fletcher, Mike (2005), The Making of Wigan, Wharncliffe Books, ISBN 1-903425-86-7
* Moule, Thomas (1837), The English Counties Delineated, Virtue

* v
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* e

Buildings and structures in Wigan Borough, England

Buildings|

* Abram Council Offices
* Astley Green Colliery Museum
* Bedford Hall, Leigh
* Billinge Hospital
* Bispham Hall
* Damhouse, Astley
* Garrett Hall
* Haigh Hall
* Hindley Town Hall
* Ince-in-Makerfield Town Hall
* Leigh Spinners
* Leigh Town Hall
* Mather Lane Mill
* Morleys Hall, Astley
* Museum of Wigan Life
* Wigan Town Hall
* Trencherfield Mill
* Wigan Life Centre
* Wigan Little Theatre
* Wigan Pier
* Winstanley Hall

Places of worship|

* All Saints' Church, Wigan
* Chowbent Chapel
* Christ Church, Ince-in-Makerfield
* Christ Church, Pennington
* St David's Church, Haigh
* St George's Church, Tyldesley
* St James and St Thomas, Poolstock
* St John's Church, Wigan
* St John the Baptist's Church, Atherton
* St John the Divine's Church, Pemberton
* St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Leigh
* St Jude's Church, Wigan
* St Mary the Virgin's Church, Leigh
* St Mary's Church, Wigan
* St Matthew's Church, Wigan
* St Michael and All Angels' Church, Howe Bridge
* Catholic Church of St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith
* St Peter's Church, Hindley
* St Peter's Church, Westleigh
* Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Hindsford
* St Stephen's Church, Astley
* St Stephen's Church, Whelley
* St Thomas' Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield
* St Wifrid's Church, Standish
* Tyldesley Top Chapel

Education|

* St John Rigby College, Wigan
* University Technical College Wigan
* Wigan and Leigh College
* Winstanley College

Transportation|

* Adam Viaduct
* Appley Bridge railway station
* Atherton railway station
* Bryn railway station
* Gathurst railway station
* Gathurst Viaduct
* Hag Fold railway station
* Hindley railway station
* Leigh railway station
* Lower Ince railway station
* Orrell railway station
* Pemberton railway station
* Wigan bus station
* Wigan North Western railway station
* Wigan Wallgate railway station

Shopping complexes|

* The Galleries
* Grand Arcade

Sport and entertainment|

* Brick Community Stadium
* Edge Hall Road
* Leigh Sports Village
* Wigan Casino

Others|

* Believe Square
* Mab's Cross
* Mesnes Park
* Wigan Pier

Demolished|

* Atherton Hall
* Barnfield Mills
* Bedford Colliery
* Bickershaw Colliery
* Central Park stadium
* Chaddock Hall
* Gibfield Colliery
* Hilton Park
* May Mill
* Old Town Hall
* Parsonage Colliery
* Pennington railway station
* Springfield Park
* Standish Hall
* Tyldesley railway station
* Westleigh railway station
* Wigan Central railway station
* Wigan Darlington Street railway station

Lists|

* List of schools in Wigan
* List of mills in Wigan
* List of collieries in Lancashire since 1854
* Wigan area
* Leigh area

Listed buildings in|

* Abram
* Ashton-in-Makerfield
* Aspull
* Astley
* Atherton
* Billinge and Winstanley
* Golborne
* Haigh
* Hindley
* Ince
* Leigh
* Orrell
* Shevington
* Standish
* Tyldesley
* Wigan
* Worthington

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