Leeds Town Hall

rdf:langString Leeds Town Hall

rdf:langString Leeds Town Hall

rdf:langString Leeds Town Hall

rdf:langString Leeds Town Hall - Grade I

rdf:langString Thomas Wemyss Reid

rdf:langString Leeds Town Hall in 2018

rdf:langString Clockwise from top left: Tympanum , keystone head , fleece and a Corinthian capital

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rdf:langString Engraving of Bolton Town Hall 1873.jpg

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rdf:langString Portsmouth prewar guildhall.jpg

rdf:langString Town Hall in 2016 .JPG

rdf:langString Town Hall, Leeds .jpg

rdf:langString Parliament House Melbourne, 1890 Mitchell Library ref PXE 800 photo 33b.jpg

rdf:langString Samuel Atack

rdf:langString No one would wish to underestimate the importance of the metropolis, but, after all, it is not in London that we find the best specimens of our English architecture ... It is in what were once provincial cities or hamlets that we discover the most venerable and the most striking memorials of the taste and self-consecration of our forefathers. And the time may come when the archaeologist of a future age will look for the best specimens of the buildings of the present reign, not to the Law Courts or in the Houses of Parliament, but to some provincial towns, where possibly the hurry and rush of life have not been as great as in the capital.

rdf:langString Leeds Town Hall is an unforgettable sight. There is a remarkable tension between the counter-intuitive tower and the body of the building. This tension is not merely between the vertical and the horizontal, there is also a calculated stylistic change. The building itself uses the device of columns and pilasters monotonously. [...] Domes are not meant to be concave. There is some terrible abnormality here, it’s like a Satanic freakshow devised by Beardsley, or by Victor Hugo, who wrote "deformity is akin to sublimity". Indeed, the building’s entire exterior exhibits a taste for monstrous perversity in stone. Brodrick exploited [Millstone Grit's] properties from the outset. It cannot be worked delicately. It lends itself to gigantism, solidity, and this sort of rustication – vermicular, that is, it’s in the form of worms. [...] It tells us that the city state of Leeds will exist long after its current crop of citizens is dead. This building puts us in our place as surely as any great cathedral.

rdf:langString Mr J. A. Picton stated that he had an opportunity of inspecting the new Town Hall. Externally it was not so imposing as St George's Hall, Liverpool, but internally it was a work of equally great merit. The laying of it out was equal to anything he had ever seen, and superior to their own hall in that respect. The two defects of St George's Hall were the meanness of the entrances and the darkness of the corridors, both of which were obviated in the building at Leeds. The building was in every respect highly creditable to the builder.

rdf:langString Mr H. P. Horner confirmed its fitness for the purpose was externally was superior to St George's Hall, and overcame the objections made to buildings of a classical character as to the necessity for the introduction of windows. The interior would be in many respects superior, more particularly in reference to the lighting. In every respect the Leeds Town Hall was the most successful building that had been raised during the present century.

rdf:langString Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built between 1853 and 1858 to a design by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick. With the building of the Civic Hall in 1933, some of these functions were relocated, and after the construction of the Leeds Crown Court in 1993, the Town Hall now serves mainly as a concert, conference and wedding venue, its offices still used by some council departments. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1951. Imagined as a municipal palace to demonstrate the power and success of Victorian Leeds, and opened by Queen Victoria in a lavish ceremony in 1858, it is one of the largest town halls in the United Kingdom. With a height of 225 feet (68.6 m) it was the tallest building in Leeds for 108 years from 1858 until 1966, when it lost the title to the Park Plaza Hotel, which stands 26 feet (8 m) taller at 253 feet (77 m). The distinctive baroque clock tower, which serves as a landmark and a symbol of Leeds, was not part of the initial design but was added by Brodrick in 1856 as the civic leaders sought to make an even grander statement. The project to build the Town Hall came about as Leeds underwent rapid growth and industrialisation during the 19th century, helped by a desire to compete with Bradford and symbolise Leeds's dominance within the region. Proceedings began in July 1850, carried through by a dedicated committee of the Town Council, which held a competition selecting the relatively unknown Brodrick to prepare a design, with construction underway by July 1853. The building cost much more than the original estimates due to rising prices and constant additions to its design throughout construction. The form of Leeds Town Hall has been used as a model for civic buildings across Britain and the British Empire, being one of the largest and earliest. As a key heritage asset for the city, its history as a court and prison is demonstrated in guided tours for the public. Several recurring cultural events use the Town Hall as a performance space, such as the Leeds International Piano Competition.