Town Hall

Details

BARROW IN FURNESS

SD1969SE DUKE STREET 708-1/12/66 (South West side) 06/05/76 Town Hall

GV II*

Town hall. 1882-87. By WH Lynn of Belfast. Contractors Short and Devlin of Glasgow. Snecked red sandstone with ashlar dressings, graduated slate roofs. 3 storeys and attic with 6-stage tower; 1:1:5:2:4:1:1 bays in near symmetrical composition. Bays 2 & 14 have oriel bay windows corbelled over ground floor; the 2-bay section is occupied by the tower. Gothic Revival style with Geometrical tracery. Ground floor: chamfered plinth, offset and string course beneath cross-windows having arched lights and relieving arches; corbelling to the oriels; carved cornice. 1st floor: 2-light windows with trefoil-headed lights and quatrefoils beneath moulded arches with continuous hoodmoulds; bays 10-13 have apron panels to larger windows in same style which rise through 2 storeys to light the council chamber, between are statue niches on shafts; canted oriels have transomed windows of 1:2:1 lights with trefoiled heads and shields over. 2nd floor: frieze between 2 string courses set beneath double-chamfered 3-light windows with trefoiled heads; carved cornice beneath parapet with roll-moulded copings; octagonal tourelles to each corner having blind arcading and pinnacles. Attic storey: dormers with diagonal buttresses, ogee-headed 2-light windows and coped gables (those to right of tower with quatrefoils in the gables and poppyhead finials). The oriel windows rise above the parapet and each has shields below windows of 2:2:2 lights; eaves cornice and steeply-pitched hipped roof flanked by stacks with upswept caps. The main roof is hipped. Tower: diagonal buttresses flank main entrance having moulded arch with 3 orders of colonnettes and hood- mould; roundels with shields in the spandrels. Corbelled balcony with 2 cross-windows under pointed arches with arms of Devonshire and Buccleuch in each tympanum; quatrefoil between. Corbelled balcony to 3rd stage (level with main parapet); 2 tall lancets with transom panels have carved bee and the letter B. String course beneath arcading with central niche in which stands a statue of Queen Victoria. Above 3rd stage are corbelled octagonal corner turrets which flank louvred 2-light belfry openings in moulded arches with colonnettes, traceried heads and hoodmoulds. Quatrefoiled panel below gable with date '1883' under clock face and initials 'JR' over; the turrets end with arcading and pinnacles. Octagonal top stage with cusped ogee openings under pointed arches; balustrade topped by carved rams bearing shields. Rear: centre is double depth, the rear section being of 2 storeys and attic; porte-cochere with canted window over. Rounded stair turret in angle with wing on right. Wing to left has lateral stair-turret projection and rear gable with banqueting-hall window of 4-lights having quinquefoil and relieving arch over; cross on gable. Right return: side entrance; buttresses; canted-bay projection. INTERIOR: vaulted lobby with trefoiled inner door. Entrance hall: arcade with octagonal piers and carved capitals; carved fireplace under plaque stating 'opened by Marquis of Hartington 14th July 1887'; carved corbels and curved braces support beamed ceiling. Broad stone staircase off to right has trefoiled balustrade and half landing. Queen's Hall above has 3-bay arcading to each side with quatrefoil piers and moulded arches; pointed-arched and coffered ceiling. Canted bay window with stained-glass panels dedicated to members of the Cavendish family; lower panels have Borough Arms and depict the industrial scene; to each side are panels showing Furness Abbey and arms of local families. Bust of Queen Victoria by Andreoni of Rome presented by James Ramsden 1887; marble statue of Labour (man with sledgehammer) by FM Miller 1866. Council chamber: ashlar fireplace; panelling; coving beneath gallery. Stained glass with The Arts depicted in the quatrefoils; carved ashlar cornice to panelled ceiling with moulded oak beams. Contemporary furniture; pendant light fittings in the form of iron baskets. Drawing Room: panelled; carved ashlar fireplace with Borough Arms and oakleaf frieze; oakleaf cornice with gilded shields to low ceiling of subdivided squares with gilded ribs; brass electroliers. Banqueting Hall: panelling; ashlar fireplace with quatrefoils and Borough Arms; minstrels' gallery on 2 arches opposed by similar arcade across bay window; coving beneath end gallery; hammer beams to pointed-arched roof trusses. Secondary staircase in left end of building is of stone on steel girders with iron balustrade; 3 tiers of arches on 2 sides of the stairwell. The design won an open competition of 1876 although approval was delayed until 1881. Opened as part of Queen Victoria's Jubilee celebrations having cost about »80,000. Monograms of the first 4 mayors are found over the clock faces. Statue of Queen Victoria and rams with shields carved by HT Miles of Ulverston (Trescatheric). (Tescatheric B: Barrow Town Hall 1887-1987: Kendal: 1987-: 93; Trescatheric B: Barrow in Furness in Old Picture Postcards: Netherlands: 1982-: PL 1).

Listing NGR: SD1983869102

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

388465

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Trescatheric, B, Barrow in Furness in Old Picture Postcards, (1982), 1
Trescatheric, B, Barrow Town Hall 1887-1897, (1987), 93

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