Morley Town Hall
Morley Town Hall is a grand building, with a clock tower located in Morley, West Yorkshire, England. The hall's main steps have a colonnade with a Roman frieze on the pediment. Morley Town Hall is situated on Queen Street in the centre of Morley. It bears a strong resemblance to Bolton Town Hall, being designed by the same architect. It is a Grade I listed building. The building retains a large amount of original features, including halls, a courtroom and holding cells, all of which contribute to the building being chosen often as a local filming location. ITV shows Emmerdale and Heartbeat both use the Hall for both interior and exterior shots.
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[edit] Celebrations
Morley Town Hall is often the centrepiece of local celebrations. During the run-up to Christmas the surrounding fir trees are usually covered in large gold baubles and the decorative Christmas lights are controlled from atop grand stairs. Bonfire Night is an annual celebration that takes place on November 5 in which fireworks will light up the sky above Morley Town Hall. At these celebrations there is usually a band, a celebrity and quite a few attractions. Typically there will be trinkets on sale, a small Ferris wheel and other children's rides as well.
[edit] Clock Tower
The original clock was completed on April 20 1895, and for years it would be known as "Sam Rhodes Clock" named after Councillor Samuel Rhodes who set about installing the clock. Later the same year the official opening ceremony was performed on 16th October by the Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith Q.C., M.P. the Morley born Liberal politician, the then Home Secretary.
The town's only previous clock had been blown from the top of the Local Board Offices during a gale some twenty years before. The people of Morley were very much in favour of the new clock, which would be seen for miles. The clock chimes the Westminster chimes made famous by Big Ben in London, and the belfry still contains the wartime air raid siren. Unfortunately access to the clock is no longer permitted because of health and safety reasons.
On the morning of Friday, 18th August 1961, a fire broke out in the nearby Albert Mills which, prior to demolition, were being used for storing paper. As the mill building burned down, sparks and burning paper were blown against the dome of the Town Hall and these managed to set alight its timber construction. Within two hours the dome had been destroyed and the clock put out of action. The fire was reported on national television and film footage is available within the Yorkshire Film Archive. Restoration work would not be completed until December 14th 1962.[1]
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 53°44′45″N 1°36′07″W / 53.7459°N 1.6019°W
[edit] References
- ^ Atkinson, David (1973). Morley Borough 1886-1974. Morley Borough Council. pp. 17. ISBN 0 9503035 0 X.
