Barnsley Town Hall
Encyclopedia
Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley
The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley is a metropolitan borough of the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire, England. Its main town is Barnsley....
. The Borough's local government was last reorganised in 1986 when the South Yorkshire County Council
County council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
was abolished. The former County Council was located in offices on Kendray Street, the main part of which is due for demolition in 2007 or 2008 as part of a major redevelopment programme.
The foundation stone of Barnsley Town Hall was laid on 21 April 1932 and was opened by His Royal Highness Edward, Prince of Wales on 14 December 1933. The cost of construction of the town hall and of furnishing the new seat of local government was £188,037 12/10d. George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
in his book The Road to Wigan Pier
The Road to Wigan Pier
The Road to Wigan Pier is a book by the British writer George Orwell, first published in 1937. The first half of this work documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions amongst the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England before World...
was highly critical of this expenditure and claimed that the council should have spent the money on improving the housing and living conditions of the local miners. Orwell spent a number of days in the town living in the houses of the working class miners while researching for the book.
Every evening blue fluorescent lights are turned on in the room in the spire, leading to the Barnsley rumour that the mayor has a sunbed.
It bears more than a passing resemblance to the Parliament Buildings
Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)
The Parliament Buildings, known as Stormont because of its location in the Stormont area of Belfast is the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive...
of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, Stormont, and, like Stormont, its façade is sculpted in Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
.
In front of the Town Hall, the soldier of the war memorial looks down Regent Street, the financial heart of Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
. The cenotaph was built before the Town Hall.
Since the abolition of the County Council, only a small number of council departments are based in the town hall, most of the offices having being distributed around the town centre. In 2006 the Council are building new offices on Westgate to the West of the Town Hall to accommodate 700 staff. There are plans to convert part of the town hall into a museum and community heritage facility. The project is known as Experience Barnsley.