Ince-in-Makerfield Town Hall, also known as Ince-in-Makerfield Council Offices, is a municipal building in Ince Green Lane,

Ince-in-Makerfield Ince-in-Makerfield or Ince is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the Ince ward at the 2011 census was 13,486, but a southern part of Ince was also listed under the Abram ward (north o ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. The building is currently used as a children's nursery.

History

After significant industrial growth in the mid-19th century, largely associated with the

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

industry, a

local board of health A local board of health (or simply a ''local board'') was a local authority in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulat ...

was formed in Ince-in-Makerfield in 1866. By the early 1880s, the council had established its offices at No. 43 Ince Green Lane. Ince-in-Makerfield became an

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

in 1894 and, in this context, civic leaders decided to erect new offices further to the southwest along Ince Green Lane. The site chosen was just to the north of Saw Mill Pit which had been sunk in 1869 and where 15 miners died in an explosion in July 1874. The building was designed by Heaton, Ralph, and Heaton in the Edwardian Baroque style, built in red brick, and was completed in 1903. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of eight bays facing onto Ince Green Lane. The central section of three bays, which was slightly projected forward, featured a round-headed doorway with a keystone inscribed with the date of completion. The doorway was flanked by banded

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

with elaborate carvings. There was a

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

ed and transomed window on the first floor. The outer bays of the central section were fenestrated by round-headed windows on the ground floor and by

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an ...

s on the first floor. The central section featured an attic floor which was fenestrated by

Diocletian window Diocletian windows, also called thermal windows, are large semicircular windows characteristic of the enormous public baths (''thermae'') of Ancient Rome. They have been revived on a limited basis by some neo-classical architecture, classical rev ...

s with carved gables above. The central gable contained a panel that was inscribed with the words "Council Offices" and was flanked by Ionic order

colonette A colonnette is a small slender column, usually decorative, which supports a Beam (structure), beam or lintel. Colonnettes have also been used to refer to a feature of furnishings such as a dressing table and Grandfather clock, case clock, and eve ...

s. The left-hand wing of two bays was fenestrated by round-headed windows on the ground floor and by mullioned and transomed windows on the first floor, while the right-hand section of three bays was fenestrated in a similar style, except that the outer bays contained narrow

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...

s. At the roof level, there was a balustraded

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber. The building continued to serve as the office of Ince-in-Makerfield Urban District Council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council Wigan Council, or Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, is the Local government in England, local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of loca ...

was formed in 1974. It was subsequently used by Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council for the delivery of local services. The council disposed of the building in 2015 and it was subsequently converted for use as a children's nursery. During the execution of those works, a mural was discovered that depicted the

Gulf of Naples The Gulf of Naples (), also called the Bay of Naples, is a roughly 15-kilometer-wide (9.3 mi) gulf located along the south-western coast of Italy (Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania region). It opens to the west into the Mediterranean ...

and dated back to the construction of the building in the early 20th century.

References

{{Buildings and structures in Wigan Borough Government buildings completed in 1903 Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan City and town halls in Greater Manchester