Stoke Town Hall complex including the Kings Hall and Jubilee Hall, and balustrade to Glebe Street

Summary

A civic complex, incorporating the Town Hall, built in three phases from 1834, to designs by Henry Ward (about 1801- 1861/71) with wings completed in 1842 (north) and after 1850 (south); extended 1910 to 1911 by the addition of council chamber and associated suites of rooms, along with the Kings Hall to designs by Thomas Wallis (1872-1953) and James Albert Bowden (1876-1949); Jubilee Hall created from the former assembly room in 1935. The exuberant and extensive Mannerist interiors are of high quality in design and execution, and match the formal and muscular exterior elevations in their powerful expression of civic pride. The buildings of the civic centre added to the north in 1992 are not included in the listing.

Reasons for Designation

Stoke Town Hall, including the Jubilee Hall and Kings Hall, are listed at Grade II*, for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* for the high degree of architectural interest of the exterior, which is of more than special interest in its design, materials and execution, with the robust, well-handled classicism of the mid-C19 range more than matched by the boldness and vitality of the Mannerist style extension of 1911;

* for the extensive, exuberant and high-quality interior decorative schemes, both of the mid-C19 range, which includes extensive tile work reflecting the building’s location and the source of the prosperity of the town; and those of the 1911 extension, which are of very high quality in design and execution, and match the formal and muscular exterior elevations in their powerful expression of civic pride.

Historic interest:
* as a expression of the civic pride of Stoke, which was at the centre of the internationally-significant North Staffordshire ceramic industry, giving the area its prosperity, and which is directly reflected in the stature and quality of the building.

History

The town of Stoke-upon-Trent is one of the six towns, along with Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton and Tunstall, which now make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. These six towns were prominent in the North Staffordshire Potteries from the C18, when the making of earthenware pottery in the area grew from a small, local industry to a globally-significant export trade, leading to huge growth economically and in terms of population. The towns, which shared a distinctive identity due to the nature of their industrial activity, characterised by extensive factory sites with dozens of bottle kilns, were closely proximate, and from the early C19 there were early efforts to unite them and to provide some local services on a co-operative basis. However, these efforts were not successful, and the enormous growth of the towns meant that by the mid-C19 Stoke-upon-Trent had outgrown its first town hall, built in 1794 and funded by subscription, and a new building was required as municipal offices and the seat of local government.

Stoke-upon-Trent Town Hall was begun in 1834, built to designs by architect Henry Ward (about 1801- 1861/71), architect and town surveyor of Henry Ward and Sons of Hanley. The first phase saw the construction of the core of the town hall range to Glebe Street, opposite the parish church, and surrounded by pottery factories. This central block was then joined by the north range, completed in 1842, and then the south range, completed after 1850. The building was in a neo-classical style, with an imposing main elevation, and housed an Athenaeum, municipal offices, a market hall, magistrates’ court rooms and, between 1843 and 1897, the police force, which occupied the ground floor of the north range and had purpose-built cells in the basement below. By the mid-C19, a school of design was also briefly housed in the building. The large room formerly home to the Athenaeum, occupying the first floor of the 1834 block, was converted to an assembly room. In 1888, the former market hall in the rear of the central range was converted to use as a council chamber, and some internal refurbishment was undertaken, including the addition of tiled walls to the assembly room.

The town hall complex was already being outgrown by the later C19, and plans for expansion were considered for over a decade. Following the repayment of some loans which meant that expansion would be affordable without raising rates, it was agreed that the plans could be realised, and in 1909, a competition was held to design an extension to the town hall, which would provide a concert hall (the Kings Hall) at the western end of the complex, and a new suite of council chambers, committee rooms and a small assembly room (now the Windsor Room) to the ground floor, and a companion room to the first-floor assembly room to allow for dining and receptions (now the Queen Elizabeth II Room). The competition was unsuccessful; the top three designs were either too expensive, in two cases, or unsuitable for practical reasons, in the case of the third. The council turned to one of the other entrants, Wallis and Bowden, and worked with them to modify their scheme to better fit the needs of the town. Thomas Wallis (1872-1953) and James Albert Bowden (1876-1949) worked together between about 1905 and 1913 and were known for other municipal buildings, including an extension to Marylebone Town Hall in London. Their design for additions to Stoke's town hall, facing Tower Street (now Kingsway) was in an exuberant, Mannerist style designed to complement the forceful classicism of the mid-C19 buildings. Wallis would later found Wallis, Gilbert and Partners, best known for its innovative designs using reinforced concrete, in Art Deco style, which included the celebrated Hoover Factory in Perivale (listed Grade II*).

Moves to bring the six towns together for administrative purposes continued through the latter part of the C19 and into the early years of the C20, and in 1910, they were formally federated into a new county borough known as Stoke-on-Trent. Stoke was chosen as the administrative centre of the new borough, and its town hall became the seat of local government. As the new town hall for Stoke was under construction at the time, there were some concerns in the town over its funding, and suggestions that if the expanded facilities were required to meet the needs of the new Federation, then perhaps a financial contribution should be made by the new authority. The new buildings were completed and opened in 1911.

In 1925, city status was conferred on Stoke-on-Trent, and the Town Hall was visited by King George V and Queen Mary to make the official announcement. When the King celebrated his silver jubilee in 1935, the first-floor assembly room was comprehensively refurbished in an Art Deco style, and renamed the Jubilee Room.

Kings Hall became, and remains, a popular venue for music, and has hosted concerts across the musical spectrum, including acts such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. An extension was added to the western end, running along the side of the building, in the later C20, to provide additional changing rooms and sanitary facilities.

A new office range (not included) was constructed to the north of the historic buildings in 1992, to house the expanded functions of the local authority.

Details

A civic complex, incorporating the Town Hall, built in three phases from 1834, to designs by Henry Ward (about 1801- 1861/71) with wings completed in 1842 (north) and after 1850 (south); extended 1910 to 1911 by the addition of council chamber and associated suites of rooms, along with the Kings Hall to designs by Thomas Wallis (1872-1953) and James Albert Bowden (1876-1949); Jubilee Hall created from the former assembly room in 1935. The modern offices of the civic centre, added to the north east in 1992, are not included in the listing.

MATERIALS
Sandstone ashlar for facings; brick to some inner returns; flat roofs.

PLAN
The buildings occupy a corner plot, with the main town hall range fronting Glebe Street, and the King s Hall and 1911 council range facing Kingsway to the south. The buildings combine to cover a broadly rectangular area, with municipal offices occupying the ground floor of the main range, on a corridor plan, and a broad spine corridor extending eastwards to the council chamber and committee rooms, and the mayor’s suite. Beyond this lies the Kings Hall, which occupies the whole of the western end of the plot.

EXTERIOR
The Glebe Street elevation is of ashlar, with multi-paned windows; it is of two storeys with attic and basement. The ground floor has rock-faced rustication, with ashlar above. The central section, of three bays, forms an entrance portico, with three archways to the ground floor beneath Ionic columns carrying a deep entablature and an elevated pediment. Three windows with shouldered architraves are set behind the columns. Steps rise under the portico to the former main entrance to the building. Flanking this central section are five-bay blocks, slightly set back, each with semi-circular windows to the ground floor and six-over-nine sashes above. At either end is a pedimented, three-bay block with similar fenestration, the window bays separated by Ionic pilasters, with the addition of attic windows. The return elevations are each of three wide bays, that to the north with a broad doorcase with engaged columns, and carved wreaths to the frieze, below which is a just visible a ghost sign reading POLICE STATION. The raised and fielded doors are studded. Otherwise the treatment is the same as the Glebe Street elevation, with the exception of a central tripartite window to the first floor. To the right are two bays of the 1911 extension, the first with two semi-circular arched windows to ground and first floors and an oculus above, and the second, a bay with differing floor heights, adjoining which is the link to the 1990s civic offices which are attached at this point.

The return elevation to Kingsway (south) is of three bays with a heavy broken entablature to the central doorway, which has an architrave with pairs of Ionic shafts banded with rusticated blocks. The upper floor and blind attic are heavily articulated, with Ionic pilasters, moulded shoulder bands and architraves with keystones to the windows. Left of this lies the long elevation encompassing the principal entrance of the Kings Hall to the west, and the council chamber and associated rooms moving eastwards. The range is in a Mannerist style, with exaggerated details including swags and volutes, and extensive use of banded rustication. Starting at the western end stands a plain brick bay of the mid-C20 added for changing and sanitary facilities. The westernmost bay of the historic building is set well back, housing a stair to the gallery. Then five bays house the entrances to the Kings Hall, the central three bays contained beneath a pediment, and advanced slightly. The broad, central door is set in a heavy surround beneath Ionic columns flanked by full-height archways. The outer doorways are enriched with heavily moulded architraves and pediments, one with a sign reading KINGS HALL/ENTRANCE set into the opening in its broken segmental pediment. Moving eastwards is a long range of five bays which includes two bays housing the entrances to the council chamber and committee rooms. These have panelled doors set in heavy doorcases with exaggerated details, and oculi above. The window bays have semi-circular arched windows to the ground floor, and blind ashlar above, with a deeply-moulded cornice. The extension terminates in a slightly recessed bay adjoining the earlier building, with an archway to the internal courtyard, which has a heavy volute and swags over, and an open peristyle with tall, Ionic columns above. The elaborate iron gates have date plaques for 1911.

INTERIOR
The ground floor of the TOWN HALL range has rooms set to either side of a corridor which runs from end to end along the spine of the building, intersecting with the main foyer in the centre of the range. The interiors are highly decorative, with deep, foliate plasterwork cornices to the corridors and principal rooms, pilasters with Ionic volutes, doorcases with carved foliate decoration, moulded semi-circular arches with engaged Ionic columns, and some coloured glass. The corridor is lined floor to ceiling in most areas with figured glazed tile, including moulded dado, in colours of mustard, green and a rich brown. Some timber fire surrounds remain, in a matching classical style. There has been a degree of subdivision of some of the office spaces, with the introduction of lightweight partition walls. The corridor extending westwards from the main foyer leads into the 1911 buildings, first reaching the broad, open-well stair with oversized newels and cast metal balustrades which rises via a landing with memorial stained glass windows to a wide landing, on one wall of which is mounted a glazed-tile memorial plaque recording the opening of the extension of the building. The entire central block of the first floor of the town hall range is occupied by the JUBILEE HALL, which was refurbished in 1935, in an Art Deco style. The floors are clad in timber panelling with recesses for radiators, which have metal grille covers which include the figures of pottery workers carrying their wares, against a background of stylised bottle kilns. The room has a sprung floor and a stage, and is top-lit by a flat, rectangular lantern. The three full-height windows towards Glebe Street are set with stained glass depicting the heraldry of the city and its dignitaries. The central window is a memorial to Major Cecil Wedgwood, DSO, who died in the Battle of the Somme. To the south end of the range, the former offices have been converted to kitchens and a servery, though with some of the tile decoration surviving under paint. The northern end is still in use as offices. Opposite the entrance to the Jubilee Hall, on the opposite side of the landing, is the 1911 Queen Elizabeth Room, which is extensively decorated with Mannerist plasterwork and carving to its doorcases, walls, domed ceiling and arched window reveals.

The 1911 EXTENSION ROOMS are arranged off a central spine corridor running parallel to that in the main range, and an intersecting corridor, with a crush hall at the centre of the building where these two corridors meet. This crush hall has prodigious plasterwork decoration, paired Ionic columns and pilasters, and leaded transom glazing. The plan means that the corridors and many of the rooms are internal, and so are top-lit, the principal rooms by domed lanterns, and the corridors by a mixture of domes and rectangular lanterns. Ground-floor corridors and crush halls throughout the building are laid in patterns of cream and brown matte tiles. The interiors are all in a Mannerist inspired style, with heavily-moulded, deep section skirtings, cornices and elaborate door surrounds. The door surrounds all include painted legends announcing the name or function of the room to which they lead. The committee rooms have plasterwork decoration in foliate styles, and dramatically domed lanterns. The members’ rooms, smaller function room known as the Windsor Room and the Lord Mayor’s suite all have similar decoration, with very deeply coved ceilings covered in moulded plasterwork detailing, deep cornices, moulded doorcases and timber details. Those with an external wall also have Diocletian windows set in the coving. The council chamber is extensively decorated in the same style, with motifs carried across all the rooms in the range. The chamber retains its 1911 furnishing, with raked and curved benches with carved ends filling the main floor, and matching dais with seating. The mayor’s seat has a segmental arched pediment on Ionic columns forming a shallow canopy.

The KINGS HALL’s decorative scheme mirrors those of the principal spaces in the town hall extension. The hall is entered via a foyer with a barrel roof, with moulded decorative ribs springing from fancy pilasters, heavy cornices and mouldings. The former box office windows survive to either side of the central doors to the auditorium. Stairs to either side rise to the balcony seating, and continue to the gallery above. The landings above the foyer have three sets of doors to the auditorium, and are highly decorated. The auditorium has a deep barrel ceiling with extensive moulded plaster decoration, and eight Diocletian windows to each long elevation, set between the ribs of the ceiling, forming a clerestory above the balcony. The ribs spring from pilasters with moulded decoration. The balcony and gallery have fixed seating; the stalls area has no fixed seating and doubles as a dance floor. The stage is at the northern end of the building. Behind and below are technical spaces and dressing rooms. A long corridor runs the length of the building on either side, giving access to the auditorium on its long sides. Doorways in the external wall of the western corridor lead into the later-C20 range of changing rooms and lavatories.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES
The Glebe Street elevation has a coped, stone BALUSTRADE enclosing the basement area, the balusters resembling miniature Doric columns, with square newels at intervals.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

384408

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire, (1974), 262

Websites
‘Stoke-upon-Trent: Local government, economic history and social life’, in A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 8, ed. J G Jenkins (London, 1963), British History Online, accessed 28 August 2025 from https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol8/pp194-205

Other
Competition for extension to Stoke Town Hall, in The Builder, vol 97, Aug 28 1909, 233-4 and 240 and Sep 4 1909, 266 and plans, plates
Stoke Town Hall proposed extensions outlined by Alderman Geen, in Staffordshire Sentinel, 26 March 1909, p 4
Stoke Town Hall Scheme: criticism upon the competitive plans, in Staffordshire Sentinel, 30 August 1909, p 5
Stoke Town Hall: appointment of Clerk of Works for Town Hall extension scheme, Staffordshire Sentinel, 19 February 1910, p 8
Town Hall Extensions, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire Advertiser, 12 March 1910, p 5

End of official list entry

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