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The Piece Hall is a Grade I
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 ...
in Halifax,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
, England. It was built as a cloth hall for
handloom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...
weavers Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...
to sell the woollen cloth "pieces" they had produced.


History

The earliest known reference to the new Piece Hall was a handbill dated 19 March 1774, although this no longer survives. The hall was built for "the purpose of depositing and exposing to sale the
worsted Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead (from Old English ''Wurðestede'', "enclosure place"), a village in the English county of Norfolk. T ...
and woollen goods manufactured in this town and neighbourhood". It was seen that bringing merchants and buyers together in one place would create a more competitive and efficient market and discourage fraudsters. Initially, two sites were proposed, one at Talbot Croft and the other at Cross Field (which was used in 1948 for the construction of the new
bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...
). After consideration, Talbot Croft was chosen and was purchased in September 1774. It opened on 1 January 1779, with 315 separate rooms arranged around a central open courtyard. The architect of Piece Hall has never been identified, and there is a lack of documentary evidence surrounding its design and construction; F. A. Leyland cited Thomas Bradley as the most likely architect in 1887, although others have suggested Samuel and John Hope and John Carr. An 1831 description of Piece Hall says: The
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
saw a shift away from small producers and traders, with new larger mills in the Halifax area trading directly with merchants and exporters. After years of decline, the Piece Hall was acquired from the trustees in 1868 by Halifax Corporation. They converted it into a wholesale market hall and some of the small rooms were combined to make larger shop units; cellars were created and the south pedestrian gate was enlarged to allow vehicles to enter the courtyard with Iron Gates installed over the entrance (supplied by George Smith of the Sun Foundry,
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
for £120). Sheds and
latrine A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground ( pit latrine), or ...
s were constructed in the courtyard. In 1971, after the Piece Hall had become seen as unsuitable for a wholesale market, the businesses were dispersed elsewhere throughout the town and demolition of the then two-century-old building was considered. Government grants were made available and the Halifax Corporation received funding to make the building a tourist attraction. The sheds that had been built in the 19th century were demolished and the courtyard landscaped; further, walls were removed from the original rooms to create shops, and a new museum–art gallery was opened on the east side. The new Piece Hall opened on 3 July 1976. The museum–art gallery closed in 1998. In 2010, the
Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
awarded Calderdale Council first round funding to restore and redevelop the Piece Hall. The Piece Hall reopened on 1 August 2017, after a £19 million restoration project started in 2014. The Piece Hall hosted its first major music event with
Father John Misty Joshua Michael Tillman (born May 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Father John Misty, is an American musician. He is known for his satirical lyrics and eccentric performance style. Tillman began his career in Seattle in the early 2000s. O ...
headlining. Piece Hall Trust has been set up as a charity responsible for managing the Piece Hall.


Listing

The Piece Hall was listed on 3 November 1954 and has Grade I listed protection. Reasons for the listing were given as: * Historic interest: citing the scale and architectural grandeur and its illustration of the wealth of Halifax at the time of its construction. * Rarity: citing the rarity of surviving purpose built cloth halls. * Architectural interest: citing its dramatic design, its detailed galleries and courtyard as well as a high degree of craftsmanship and the high quality of materials used * Architectural layout: citing the courtyard plan but the provision of individual rooms to enable confidentiality in transactions. Despite the combination of some rooms internally the building remains externally unchanged and "visually readable".


See also

*
Grade I listed buildings in West Yorkshire There are over 9,000 Grade I listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the county of West Yorkshire, by metropolitan district. Bradford Calderdale Kirklees ...
* Listed buildings in Halifax, West Yorkshire


References


Further reading

* Gatje, Robert F. ''Great Public Squares: An Architect’s Selection'', Norton, 2010.


External links


Piece Hall website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Halifax, West Yorkshire Grade I listed buildings in West Yorkshire Tourist attractions in Calderdale Music venues in West Yorkshire