Bolton Town Hall

#manchestertrip Bolton Town Hall in Victoria Square, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, was built between 1866 and 1873 for the County Borough of Bolton to designs by William Hill of Leeds and George Woodhouse of Bolton. The town hall was extended in the 1930s to the designs of Bradshaw, Gass and Hope and has been designated a Grade II* listed building by Historic England. The original building on a rectangular plan is designed in the neoclassical style in the form of a temple with a tall baroque-style clocktower. The town hall has a high basement storey and two principal floors above in sandstone ashlar which is rusticated at basement level. It has a broad flight of steps up to a five-bay portico with a pediment in which there is a high-relief sculpture by William Calder Marshall, depicting a figure representing 'Bolton' flanked by 'Manufactures' and 'Commerce'. All the other architectural sculpture inside and out is by Burstall and Taylor, including the main staircase, the portico and the lions which flank the steps. Either side of the entrance are five-bay ranges of two storeys with round-arched windows to the first floor. In 1978 Fred Dibnah made repairs to the clock tower and its 16 stone pillars. Whilst repairing the tower he gilded the sphere at the top. The Bolton War Memorial sits directly in front of the Town Hall.