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Burnley Town Hall
Burnley Town Hall
Location	Manchester Road, Burnley
Coordinates	53°47′15″N 2°14′41″W / 53.7876°N 2.2448°W / 53.7876; -2.2448
Built	1888
Architect	Henry Holtom and George Arthur Fox
Architectural style(s)	Renaissance style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated	29 September 1977
Reference no.	1244910
Shown in LancashireShow map of LancashireLocation in BurnleyShow map of Burnley

Burnley Town Hall is a municipal building in Manchester Road, Burnley, Lancashire, England. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Burnley Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.

History

In the mid 19th century local council meetings were held in the old fire station on Manchester Road until the council bought the public hall in Elizabeth Street in 1868. The council continued to seek sites to erect a new facility not least because the public hall in Elizabeth Street had not been the council's first choice of building. The site selected for the new building was a just to the southwest of the Mechanics' Institute which had been built in 1855.

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by John Baron, the mayor, in 1885. It was designed by Henry Holtom and George Arthur Fox from Dewsbury in the Renaissance style and was officially opened on 27 October 1888. The design of the centre section of the front elevation of the building involved Ionic columns of polished granite with sandstone capitals. The height to the top of the dome is 90 feet (27 m). When it opened, the building incorporated a new police station with 30 prison cells and a magistrates' court. The clock for town hall was designed by Lord Grimthorpe in the same style as the mechanism for the clock of the Palace of Westminster and made by Potts of Leeds. The bells were by Gillett & Johnston: the large bell of the clock weighs 25 cwt and the four smaller bells weigh over 32 cwt. The interior decoration included a mosaic pavement with tiles made by Craven Dunnill bearing the town's coat of arms.

Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the town hall and waved to the crowd from the town hall balcony in February 1955.

The town hall became the headquarters of Burnley County Borough on completion and remained the local seat of government on the formation of the enlarged Borough of Burnley in 1974. The building was the venue for crown court trials until the new Law Courts in Hammerton Street opened in 1981. The Prince of Wales visited the town hall for a meeting with the civic dignitaries in February 2008.

In May 2016 Burnley F.C. were presented with the Football League Championship trophy outside the town hall after security risks at The Valley prevented the trophy from reaching south London on the final day of the competition. Essential repairs to the roof and external faces of the building were carried out in 2019.

See also

• Listed buildings in Burnley

References

1. ^ Historic England. "Town Hall, Burnley (1244910)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
2. ^ "The proud history of Burnley Town Hall". Pendle Today. 4 June 2014. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
3. "History". Burnley Mechanics. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
4. "Burnley Town Hall". The Briercliffe Society. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
5. Farrer, William; Brownbill, J. (1911). "'Townships: Burnley', in A History of the County of Lancaster". London: British History Online. pp. 441–454. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
6. ^ "Our Centres of Industry - 1. Burnley". Lancashire Faces & Places. 1 (1): 10–14. January 1901.
7. "Time for a facelift". Lancashire Telegraph. 6 December 2001. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
8. "Chimes of the United Kingdom and Ireland". Church Bells of Warwickshire. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
9. "Tile Gazateer". Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
10. "East Lancashire residents remember the young royals on their 1955 tour". Lancashire Telegraph. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
11. Frost, Roger; Thompson, Ian (2010). Burnley Through Time. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1848682818.
12. "Burnley Town Hall's £2.7m. four-year restoration". Burnley Express. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
13. "Video memories: Prince Charles visits Burnley 2008". Pendle Today. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
14. Treadwell, Matthew (9 May 2016). "Burnley presented with Sky Bet Championship trophy". Sky Sports. British Sky Broadcasting. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
15. "Essential repairs to historic landmark building". Burnley Council. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

v t e Culture and infrastructure of the Borough of Burnley
Transport	Burnley Bus Company Burnley bus station East Lancashire line The Witch Way Transdev Northern Blue Railway stations Burnley Barracks Burnley Central Burnley Manchester Road Hapton Rose Grove Disused stations Padiham Holme New Hall Bridge Towneley Thorneybank Roads A56 A671 A678 M65
Education	Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic College Burnley College Burnley High School Sir John Thursby Community College Shuttleworth College Thomas Whitham Sixth Form UCFB Unity College
Sport	Burnley Cricket Club Burnley F.C. Burnley Rugby Club Lowerhouse Cricket Club Padiham F.C.
History	Angels Bank Hall Colliery Burnley Barracks Burnley Building Society Burnley Coalfield Burnley Corporation Tramways Burnley Grammar School Burnley power station Burnley Rural District Butterworth & Dickinson Grenfell Cloth Hameldon Community College Hapton Valley Colliery Honour of Clitheroe Padiham Power Station Padiham witch Towneley Colliery UTC Lancashire
Media	2BR Burnley Express Lancashire Telegraph
Politics	District elections Burnley Town Hall Burnley constituency

v t e Buildings and structures in the Borough of Burnley
Grade I	Gawthorpe Hall Great Barn Queen Street Mill Shuttleworth Hall Towneley Hall
Grade II*	Burnley Mechanics Extwistle Hall The Holme Church of St Peter
Grade II	Burnley Embankment (parts) Burnley Town Hall Huntroyde Padiham Town Hall Queens Park Scott Park Thompson Park Towneley Park Weavers' Triangle (parts) Places of worship Burnley: St Andrew St Mary of the Assumption Holy Trinity (disused) Briercliffe: St James Cliviger: St John the Divine Worsthorne: St John the Evangelist
Listed in	Briercliffe Burnley Cliviger Habergham Eaves Hapton Ightenhill Padiham Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood
Unlisted	Bank Parade drill hall Burnley bus station Burnley General Teaching Hospital Burnley Law Courts Burnley Youth Theatre Coal Clough Wind Farm Harle Syke Mill Moorhouse's Brewery Singing Ringing Tree Turf Moor Places of worship Places of worship in Burnley Burnley: St Matthew

• Buildings and structures in Burnley
• City and town halls in Lancashire
• Grade II listed buildings in Lancashire
• Government buildings completed in 1888
• Local government in Burnley
• Government buildings with domes