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A Grade I listed building, Manchester Town Hall in the City of Manchester is a beautiful example of Victorian Gothic architecture and one of the finest municipal government buildings in the world. The previous town hall was on King Street in a neo-classical building and had been so since 1722. By the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution caused Manchester to expand at such a great pace that it went from being a town to receiving city status in 1853. With all this growth, the Manchester Corporation realised that it needed a new town hall to meet the increasing needs of its citizens.

The planning process for a new town hall began in 1863 when the corporation created a design competition. The property on which the new building would sit bordered Mount Street and Princess Street and was triangular in shape, necessitating a similarly-shaped structure. The building also needed to have a large hall, a suite of reception rooms, offices for city employees, a chamber for council meetings, and living quarters for the Lord Mayor. The Manchester Corporation required the new building to be “equal, if not superior, to any similar building in the country at any cost which may be reasonably required.”

Ultimately, architect Alfred Waterhouse won the competition in 1868 out of 137 entries. He had opened an architectural firm in the city after studying in France, Italy, and Germany and would go on to design the Natural History Museum in London as well as many other buildings. While Waterhouse’s design was not the most aesthetically pleasing to the Manchester City Council, his ingenious plan to fit the building onto the property as well as combining the ceremonial and work requirements of the town hall won the day, despite rumours that he had actually placed fourth.

Lord Mayor Robert Neill laid the foundation stone on 26 October 1868. The construction took nine years and utilised 14 million bricks encased in Spinkwell stone. By the time construction was finished in 1877, Abel Heywood had become the Lord Mayor. In his younger days, Heywood ran the Poor Man’s Guardian newspaper and had run several articles advocating the overthrow of the monarchy as well as paying a fine and incurring jail time for refusing to pay the stamp duty tax. As a result, when the Town Hall formal opening ceremony took place on 13 September that year, Queen Victoria refused to attend.

The Neo-Gothic exterior contained several notable statues such as the Roman General Agricola, King Henry III, Queen Elizabeth I, and Saint George. Agricola had built the first Roman fort in the area, Manchester received its charter during Henry’s reign, Elizabeth is there to represent religious independence, while George is present as the patron saint of England. Above all this on the Town Hall tower is a 280-foot clock with three clock faces that say “Teach us to number our Days.” The clock tower also contained 24 bells, the largest of which is named “Great Abel” in honour of Heywood.

This exterior, as well as the interior, are testaments to the grandness of a city that wanted to celebrate its new status. It knew that this success was attributed to its industry and Waterhouse was sure to include many tributes in his design. To honour the industrial nature of the city, many parts of the interior are decorated with bees, such as the mosaic floors, a symbol chosen for their hard-working character. Inside the Great Hall, twelve murals by Ford Maddox Brown that illustrate important persons and moments from Manchester’s history, such as the building of the Roman fort in 80 A.D. and the opening of Bridgewater Canal in 1761. The ceiling of the Great Hall includes the coats of arms for many of the cities and counties that traded with Manchester.

By the 20th Century, Town Hall continued to grow along with the city, necessitating an extension to the original building. E. Vincent Harris won the competition to design the new section of Town Hall in 1927, the same year that he also won the competition to design the nearby Manchester Central Library. Located between the Town Hall and the Library, one side of the structure was designed to be curved to match the library building. The style of the exterior was meant to be a bridge between the Neo-Gothic style of the Town Hall and the Classical style of the Central Library. Two covered bridges connect it to the main Town Hall building which houses many departments that came to be necessary in the new century such as power and rents. It also has a cinema in the basement along with several presentation rooms.

Still a functioning municipal government building, the Town Hall achieved Grade I listed status in 1952. The architectural wonders of both buildings bring many tourists each year and the Extension includes a visitors centre from which guided tours are held daily. If you ever want to glimpse one of the most magnificent council structures in the UK, you need only take a trip to Manchester.

If you’re looking for a guide of things to do while you’re in Manchester, we have an article for that: 5 Places in Manchester to Visit on Your Next Trip.