Sale Town Hall
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Sale Town Hall is a municipal building on School Road in
Sale, Greater Manchester Sale is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Stretford, northeast of Altrincham, and southwest of Manchester. Sale lies within the Historic counties of England, historic count ...
, England. The town hall was the headquarters of Sale Borough Council until the council was abolished in 1974.


History

After rapid development as a commuter town, which saw its population tripling by the end of the 19th century, Sale became an urban district in 1894. Civic leaders decided to procure a town hall and the site they selected on the north side of School Road had already been occupied by local council offices. The foundation stone for the new building (the eastern wing of the main frontage) was laid by the Chairman of the Public Offices Committee, James McDonald, on 9 May 1914. It was designed in the neoclassical style in red brick and was officially opened by the Chairman of the council, Ernest Jones, on 4 December 1915. A war memorial, which depicted a mourning
Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
on top of a stone pedestal, was designed by Arthur Sherwood Edwards to commemorate local service personnel who had died in 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 ...
and was unveiled by Major-General Arthur Solly-Flood on 23 May 1925. After Sale became a municipal borough in September 1935, civic leaders decided to extend the building. The foundation stone for the extension (the western wing of the main frontage) was laid by the Chairman of the Public Offices Committee, Alderman Paley Parrish, on 5 May 1937. It was designed in a similar style and was officially opened by the mayor, Alderman G. F. Gordon, on 2 July 1940. By this time, the design involved a symmetrical main frontage with nine bays facing onto School Road; the central section of seven bays, which slightly projected forward, incorporated a central bay which was faced with stone and featured a doorway on the ground floor with stone
bracket A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...
s 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 ...
bearing the words "Sale Town Hall" and a
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
and
balcony A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...
above; there was a French door, which was recessed, on the first floor and a
pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
above. Sale Library on Tatton Road, which had been based just behind the town hall extension, was rebuilt around the same time. Internally, the principal room in the town hall was the council chamber which was panelled and was decorated in an
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 ...
style. The building was hit by a series of German incendiary bombs on the night of 23 December 1940 during the
Manchester Blitz The Manchester Blitz (also known as the Christmas Blitz) was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in North West England during the Second World War by the German ''Luftwaffe''. It was one of three major raid ...
, a part of 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 ...
: there were no injuries but the building was badly damaged. A programme of restoration works, which included the installation of a new
clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...
with
cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...
, was completed in 1952. The works included the re-instatement of a stained glass window on the main staircase depicting the coat of arms of the former local member of parliament, Sir William Cunliffe Brooks. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of Sale Borough Council for much of the 20th century, but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Trafford Council was formed in 1974. A further programme of works to refurbish the town hall, the library and the civic theatre was completed in November 2004. The works involved the conversion of the civic theatre into the new Waterside Arts Centre and the creation of the Robert Bolt Theatre, named after the playwright and a twice
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
-winning screenwriter, Robert Bolt, behind the east wing of the town hall.


References

{{Buildings and structures in Trafford Borough Government buildings completed in 1915 City and town halls in Greater Manchester Sale, Greater Manchester