Building Name

Extensions to the Town Hall at Oldham

Date
1877 - 1880
District/Town
Oldham
County/Country
GMCA, England
Work
New Build

In 1876, Oldham Town Hall was described as “utterly inadequate to meet the needs of the Corporation.” The old building, dating from 1841, had only seven rooms on the ground floor to house the police station, magistrate’s court and council staff while the first floor contained the council chamber and a hall for public meetings. However, the Corporation were unwilling to follow the lead of its neighbours, Manchester, Bolton and Rochdale, all of which had spent vast amounts on prestigious new town halls. An extension to the existing building was eventually agreed at a cost of ,12,000 and work started in 1877. The extension provided large additions to Firth Street and Greaves Street with giant pilasters and columns (Pevsner 357). On completion the costs had risen to almost £30,000, and for a time the public were suitably outraged. The extension, with a handsome facade to Greaves Street, faced in local sandstone, contained a new courtroom for the Petty and Quarter Sessions, and a new police station with several cells.  Its main feature, a grand top-lit staircase led to the public rooms, including a new Council Chamber. However, the extension quickly proved inadequate, with complaints that it could only hold 130 for dinner, and further extensions were forced upon the Council in 1912.