Report - Barrow Town Hall, Barrow, December/January 2014

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The Town Hall has been scaffed up for a couple of months now so I payed a few visits to check out the views. The entire roofs been rigged with slaters brackets with planks and valley ladders Plenty of roof voids and Valleys to chill on, no seagulls and good views.. It made for a good vantage point to look out over the 'Gaza Strip' (aka All of Barrows nightclubs, in a line, on one road surrounding the town hall) and the police station over the road, brew time is apparently around 4am and they make right racket :

I wasn't the first though.. Nine Pinter

The project includes replacing 75% of the Westmorland Green Slate roof covering together with the fitting of new insulation, gutters and leadwork to a very complex roof configuration. The project also encompasses the dressing back, repointing with lime mortar and where necessary replacement of red sandstone on two elevations. Prior to commencing construction drawings, the tender process and operations on site a full condition survey and analysis of the existing roof covering and respective stone walls was completed and formed the basis for identifying the scope of works. Project Value £750 000

Barrow-in-Furness Town Hall is a Victorian-era, neo-gothic municipal building. The building serves as the base of Barrow Borough Council and houses a number of local government departments. The building was constructed in a four-year period entirely from local sandstone (from Hawcoat to be precise). At 50 metres (164 ft) tall, it is the second tallest building in Barrow after Devonshire Dock Hall.
The town hall was officially opened on July 14, 1887 by Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire to coincide with Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.

In the mid-19th century, Barrow was little more than a small fishing village. However after the discovery of iron ore in local mountains and the establishment of a port in the town, the local population skyrocketed to over 40,000 in the space of 20 years. In 1877 numerous architects were invited to submit proposals for a large civic building in Barrow which would represent the dramatic growth and current stature of the town. Irish-born architect, William Henry Lynn had the winning design that began construction in 1882. Financial constraints alongside changes to the design were the reason that construction didn't commence immediately after selection of the design. In 1885 the building was almost complete, however cracks were found in areas of the building and the clock tower had to be completely knocked down and rebuilt. This was most likely the result of the contractors trying to cut costs by using sub-standard stone. Despite these initial troubles, the town hall was finally complete in 1886 and the exterior of the building has remained more or less the same to this day. The town hall's main plaza is to the exterior of the building, which has led to many incorrectly believing that the building was built 'back to front'.

All viable salvage was re-used, including the 1885 datestones, even though by the time the town hall was ready for occupation it was October 1886. This unhappy episode did have one fortunate result - the official opening could coincide with Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in the summer of 1887. So on the 14th July the Marquis of Hartington, later to become the 8th Duke of Devonshire, turned a golden key to symbolically open the Town Hall.

Out..

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