Pontefract Town Hall is a town hall in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

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 completed in 1882. It is now owned and used by

Wakefield Council Wakefield Council, also known as the City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, is the local authority of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield has had a council since 1848, which has been reformed on several occasions ...

as a registry office. The building has been

Grade II listed 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, H ...

since 15 November 1988.

History

The present building was commissioned by Pontefract Borough Council as the new assembly rooms for the town after the council deemed the old town hall to be insufficient for their then requirements, especially for concerts, balls and public meetings. A design competition was arranged and the winning design was selected for the new assembly rooms following a competition for which 59 entries were submitted. The building was designed by Henry Perkin and George Bertram Bulmer of Leeds and completed in 1882. The civic leaders and magistrates started to hold their meetings in the assembly rooms from the early 20th century. The building remained the meeting place for Pontefract Borough Council but ceased to be the local seat of Government when the enlarged

Wakefield Metropolitan District Council Wakefield Council, also known as the City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, is the local government in England, local authority of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield has had a council since 1848, which has been ...

was formed in 1974. The building was the subject of an extensive restoration programme in 1996. Since it was formed by the then Vicar of St. Giles Church, the Reverend Jack Peel, in 1949, the St. Giles with St. Mary's Pantomime and Theatre Society have been staging pantomimes in the assembly rooms. Performances in the 1950s included a pantomime based on a folk tale from ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition ( ...

'' entitled ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

''; more recent performances have included a pantomime based on another folk tale from ''One Thousand and One Nights'' entitled ''

Sinbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (; or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a Literary cycle, story-cycle. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages thr ...

'' in 2011 and a pantomime based on a fairy tale by

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

entitled ''

the Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" () is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection, New Fairy Tales. First Vo ...

'' in 2020.

Architectural style

Exterior

The building is of red brick in Flemish bond dressed with ashlar sandstone and a steeply-pitched Welsh slate roof and is Jacobean in style. The Bridge Street facade has one bay and a leaved panelled door situated below a fanlight under a round-arched portal with datestone.

Interior

There is a central entrance hall with staircase leading up to the first floor which has a galleried assembly room. The assembly room has a gallery with decorative panels to gallery front and an arched ceiling with transverse ribs.

References

External links