Building Name

Manchester Police Office and Town Hall (first). King Street

Date
1822 - 1825
Street
King Street
District/Town
Central, Manchester
County/Country
GMCA, England
Work
New build
Status
Demolished 1912

Design based on the Temple of Erectus Athens. Dome similar to the octagon tower of Andronicus. Cost £39,547. Building 134 feet long and 76 feet wide the main public room at first floor level measuring 131 feet by 38 feet. Used as a library following the opening of the new Town Hall in 1877. Demolished in 1912 although Edgar Wood managed to save the portico - erected as a garden feature at the end of the boating lake in Heaton Park

The front consists of four Ionic columns in antae, having an additional mass of masonry at each end incorporating a niche between coupled antae. The Order is faithfully copied from the Erectheion. Because of its present setting in Heaton Park, Barbara Jones describes it as "a folly", and it is certainly a strange (in this case successful) way of preserving worthwhile relies of architecture. Its preservation was in a large measure due to Edgar Wood, who prevailed upon the Parks & Cemeteries Committee and gathered in over £500 in subscriptions towards the cost of its removal from King Street. It was originally proposed that it should be re‑erected in Platt Fields, facing Wilmslow Road, but as a result of local protests the site at Heaton Park was selected (see Manchester Guardian, 7 March and 2 May, 1912).

Reference    Manchester Guardian 9 February 1822 page 1
Reference    Manchester Guardian 16 March 1822 page 1
Reference    Manchester Guardian 23 March 1822 page 1
Reference    Manchester Guardian 30 March 1822 page 1
Reference    Manchester Guardian 6 April 1822 page 1
Reference    Manchester Guardian 13 April 1822 page 1
Reference    Manchester Guardian 24 August 1822 page 3 - foundation stone
Reference.     Austin, pp. 67 8.
Note        Richard Lane involved in the sale of demolition materials