Morecambe Town Hall is a municipal building in Marine Road,

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. It 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

The building was commissioned to replace the old 19th century town hall, which had been built for the Poulton, Bare and Torrisholme Local Board of Health, on Morecambe Street. The device of a three-masted ship in full sail, which had been used by Morecambe Corporation, still appears on the front of the old building. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 7 August 1931. The new building, which was designed by

Alfred Cross Alfred William Stephens Cross (1858–1932) was a British architect. From 1889 to 1899 he was in partnership with Henry Spalding as Spalding and Cross, taking part in many competitions for building design. Cross and his son (Kenneth Mervyn ...

and his son, Kenneth Cross, in the

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 ...

and built by local builders Edmondson Brothers at a cost of £40,000, was officially opened Sir Maurice Jenks, the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

, on 7 June 1932. Jenks arrived by air from Croydon Aerodrome and the ceremony was broadcast to radio listeners. The design for the town hall featured a large mosaic set into the

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bind ...

marble flooring in the entrance hall bearing the town crest "Beauty surrounds, health abounds". The town hall became the headquarters of

Municipal Borough of Morecambe and Heysham Morecambe and Heysham was a municipal borough in Lancashire, England. It was formed in 1928 by the merging of Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe ...

on completion and, although the borough amalgamated with the Municipal Borough of Lancaster in 1974, because of the ample size of the council chamber at Morecambe, meetings of the full council of the

City of Lancaster The City of Lancaster, or simply ''Lancaster'' (), is a non-metropolitan district, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Lancaster, Lanca ...

have been held in Morecambe Town Hall ever since. The shallow pyramidal glazed roof was restored in the 1980s. An archway, which had formed an entrance to old Poulton Hall and had been removed to the Morecambe Town Hall site in 1932, was returned to its original location on Poulton Road in 1997. The town hall became a listed building in November 2001 after a campaign by local historians. The town hall was the venue for celebrations when

Morecambe F.C. Morecambe Football Club is a professional association football club based in Morecambe, Lancashire, England. The team currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1 ...

were promoted to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

in 2007 for the first time in their history after winning the Conference Playoff Final, beating

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

2–1 at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

on 20 May 2007, in front of over 40,000 fans. A reception for the team and its manager was held at the town hall. The ship's bell and other memorabilia from the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

HMS ''Morecambe Bay'', which saw action in the early 1950s during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, were presented by the Morecambe Bay Association and put on display at the town hall in spring 2013.

References

{{reflist City and town halls in Lancashire Grade II listed buildings in Lancashire Government buildings completed in 1932 Buildings and structures in Morecambe

History

See also

References