As you all know by now Pioneer House is a Victorian Grade II listed building sited on Halifax Road in the centre of Dewsbury. It was designed by the Architects Henry Holtom and George Fox and was built in 1872 for the Dewsbury Co-op society and later known as Dewsbury Pioneers’ Industrial Society. Henry Holtom, who arrived in Dewsbury in his 20's, became a town councillor in 1871 and later became Mayor of Dewsbury in 1883. Holtom and Fox designed many buildings including schools, churches and also designed the town hall!
yeh i know it's taken a while...
Looking upwards at the clocktower & former snooker club stairway at the south-east end of the building
The former hall/theatre/snooker hall
Looking through an old film reel in the projection room into the main hall
Part of the original ceiling with the stage front & rigging still evident
One of the gems of this building is the wonderful clocktower
The clock mechanism-silenced for many years & partly stripped by thieves!
Part of the linkage to a clock face-pieces missing & stolen!
The bells remained thankfully
Some conversion building work did start here but stopped. The effect adds to the atmosphere
A view of the former restaurant/library
Blinds still hang intact & level!
Some of the beatiful (but broken) glass
This building still has many hidden suprises-old posters
A huge & empty safe!
Ornate roof parts taken from the balcony area outside the restaurant
Contrast the brightly painted archways...
...with the more decayed ones
Finally a view of the destruction & lack of historical respect that has been shown to this wonderful building!
Cheers if you've made it this far...
there's more on my flickr
yeh i know it's taken a while...
Looking upwards at the clocktower & former snooker club stairway at the south-east end of the building
The former hall/theatre/snooker hall
Looking through an old film reel in the projection room into the main hall
Part of the original ceiling with the stage front & rigging still evident
One of the gems of this building is the wonderful clocktower
The clock mechanism-silenced for many years & partly stripped by thieves!
Part of the linkage to a clock face-pieces missing & stolen!
The bells remained thankfully
Some conversion building work did start here but stopped. The effect adds to the atmosphere
A view of the former restaurant/library
Blinds still hang intact & level!
Some of the beatiful (but broken) glass
This building still has many hidden suprises-old posters
A huge & empty safe!
Ornate roof parts taken from the balcony area outside the restaurant
Contrast the brightly painted archways...
...with the more decayed ones
Finally a view of the destruction & lack of historical respect that has been shown to this wonderful building!
Cheers if you've made it this far...
there's more on my flickr
