Luton Town Hall is a building at the junction between Manchester Street, Upper George Street and George Street,

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, England; the current building was completed in 1936 on the site of the older Town Hall, which was burnt down on 19 July 1919, following the Peace Day Riots. The current hall, which is the headquarters of

Luton Borough Council Luton Borough Council, also known as Luton Council, is the local authority of Luton, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Luton has had an elected local authority since 1850, which has been reformed several times. Since 1997 the co ...

, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

First town hall

The original Town Hall was built in the classical style with

Doric columns The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

supporting a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

designed by Luton architects John Williams and Sons in 1846 and was built for a total cost excluding the purchasing of the land for £2,200. In 1856 a small tower and clock was added in commemoration of the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. It was built by the Town Hall Company to hold public meetings and entertainment in the town and was only brought into public ownership by the Luton Local Board of Health in 1874. The building became the headquarters of Luton Borough Council after it succeeded the Local Board of Health in 1876. On Peace Day, 19 July 1919, a crowd of ex-servicemen assembled, unhappy with unemployment and other grievances. The

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

started after members of the council arrived to read out the proclamation of peace and many in the crowd expressed their disapproval. Tension boiled over into violence and a number of protesters broke through the police line and forcibly entered the town hall. Shortly after a number of violent clashes took place, with the town hall being stormed by the crowd and eventually set on fire. Order was eventually restored to the town by midnight on 19 July, but the fire brigade were unable to extinguish the fire and by the next morning the town hall was little more than ruins. The remains of the building were demolished in August 1919 and the statue "Peace", which was designed by Sir

Reginald Blomfield Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield (20 December 1856 – 27 December 1942) was a prolific British architect, garden designer and author of the Victorian and Edwardian period. Early life and career Blomfield was born at Bow rectory in Devon, w ...

and inscribed with the names of dead servicemen from the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, was unveiled in 1922. Following the destruction of the building the town's administration was carried out from the Carnegie library.

Second town hall

The original site offered the best location in the town for a replacement town hall and in 1930, a competition was held for designs for the new town hall: there were 86 entries to the competition. The competition was won by

Bradshaw Gass & Hope Bradshaw Gass & Hope is an English architect, architectural practice founded in 1862 by Jonas James Bradshaw (–1912). It is Bolton's oldest architectural practice and has exhibited archive drawings in London and Manchester. The style "Bradshaw ...

from

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

with a

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

design incorporating

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

features. It was built with a

steel frame Steel frame is a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal I-beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame. The develop ...

and clad in grey

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

and was officially opened by

The Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain and the peerage of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, most recently as a Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, royal dukedom ...

on 28 October 1936. Many of the interior features were designed to recall images from the town's coat of arms, which was carved in stone above the main entrance, the bee, the wheatsheaf, the rose and the thistle. The new clock and bells were manufactured by

Gillett & Johnston Gillett & Johnston was a clockmaker and bell foundry based in Croydon, England from 1844 until 1957. Between 1844 and 1950, over 14,000 tower clocks were made at the works. The company's most successful and prominent period of activity as a be ...

of Croydon; the hour bell installed was the heaviest in the county, weighing approximately two tonnes. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the clock tower was camouflaged to protect it during air raids as the bright white stonework would have been highly visible from the air. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the borough council for much of the 20th century and remained a meeting place for the enlarged

which was formed in 1974. During the 1980s an extension was built on Manchester Street to provide additional office space.

References

External links

2019 events to commemorate the centenary of the Peace Day riots
{{Luton Government buildings completed in 1846 Government buildings completed in 1936 Listed buildings in Luton City and town halls in Bedfordshire Grade II listed buildings in Bedfordshire 1919 riots in the United Kingdom Bradshaw, Gass & Hope buildings 1846 establishments in England

History

First town hall

Second town hall

References

Further reading

External links