Report - Town Hall, Wakefield - December 2012

[Fudge]

Visited this one alone.

This night initially began with the intention of going to check out what would have been a really nice roof in Huddersfield, but the scaffolding had been taken away in the space of two days. I mean, builders are lazy, I have to chase them up all day every day, two days, really?! Anyway, lets not dwell on that. Fearing I was boarding the fail train I scooted on over to Wakefield where I've been meaning to take a look at the roof of the cathedral. This didn't work out either. Final attempt at getting a roof to keep me sane I decided to look at the Town Hall. A little bit of sneaking around and I was up on the roof before I knew it.

Little bit of history.

Designed by T.W Collcutt, the architect of Bloomsbury Square, Wakefield Town Hall was constructed between 1877 and 1880 and is now Grade I listed. It is made from Spinkwell Stone and unusually lacks detail for something of the period, however it is still a beautiful building in its own right.

The gothic revival building was built in order to rival the likes of Leeds and Bradford as the principle government centre of West Yorkshire. There had already been disappointment in the area due to the fact that Wakefield lost the Assizes Court to Leeds because of a lack of suitable buildings in the area.

If anyone has more history on the place then feel free to correct me, I'm no expert on the history of the area.

Thanks for looking.​