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A “completely different” town centre

CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL

Rochdale Town centre

November 2011

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"The visual character of Rochdale is determined by the area of town hall and church. Here all is completely different from other Lancashire towns, and indeed English towns. The town hall lies surrounded by public gardens on three sides and the church lies up a steep bank, and the bank is also a public garden. So the centre is green and pleasant......"

Nikolaus Pevsner p373

Buildings of England, South Lancashire, 1969 Penguin Books,

London

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Contributors: Research on this and associated documents has run from January 2008 to November 2011. This appraisal document is a working document drawn up by Rochdale MBC and the RoCH group. It is summary of a number of studies compiled by different people. It is intended to enlarge the appraisal and undertake further consultation so that the document will change as it moves towards a definitive document. Thanks for to the following for their assistance in putting together this appraisal: Louise Butterworth Norman Frisby, St Chad’s Church warden Terry Whitworth Mathilde Guerin Aaron Murphy Alison Turton, Head of Group Archives RBS Group Plc Margaret Clay Co-operative Museum, Rochdale Bob Bevan The Local Studies Service at Touchstones, Rochdale Rochdale Observer John Cole Ian Andrews Geoff Wellens

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ROCHDALE TOWN CENTRE CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION – Page 6

Background Statement of significance Conservation area boundary Surrounding conservation areas and proposed conservation areas

2 ASSESSMENT OF SPECIAL INTEREST – Page 8

Location & setting Historical development Character areas

3 ROCHDALE PARISH CHURCH OF ST CHAD - page 13 4 THE OLD TOWN – Page 18

5 REGENCY DRAKE STREET – Page 28

6 ROCHDALE TOWN HALL, SQUARE & ESPLANADE – Page 41

7 CENTOTAPH & MEMORIAL GARDENS – Page 49 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY – page 50 APPENDIX – Timeline – page 51

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1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.1.1 The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 imposes a duty on

local planning authorities to survey and keep under review their district for areas which are of special architectural or historic interest, the character of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance, and to designate those areas as conservation areas. This duty is an on-going requirement of local authorities.

1.1.2 Conservation area appraisals are living documents that will evolve as more is learnt

about the area’s history and significance. The conservation area appraisal covers a large area and many buildings. The omission of a detailed description of a building or feature within the appraisal should not be taken to mean it has low significance and value.

1.2 Statement of significance

To be written as a summary following identification of significance through the body of the appraisal. (Pevsner wrote that the area in Rochdale around the church and town hall was completely different from all English towns (1969 p373). Rochdale’s fame “…is entirely connected with liberalism…and social progress” (Pevsner, N 1969 p373). Sense of space and openness not typical of industrial areas. In 1837 there were only three churches in Rochdale.)

1.3 Conservation area boundary 1.1.3 The Rochdale Town Centre Conservation Area was first designated in 1980 with

extensions added in September 2011. The amended conservation area now includes the interesting and varied built heritage along Drake Street and minor amendments have created a more logical boundary where the previous boundary omitted buildings of obvious townscape and historic interest.

1.4 Adjacent conservation areas lie to the north (Toad Lane and Town Head) and south (proposed Broadfield Park and Drake St. South)

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Rochdale Town Centre Conservation Area Boundary

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2 ASSESSMENT OF SPECIAL INTEREST 2.1 Location & setting

Rochdale is a large town in Greater Manchester approximately 10 miles north-east of Manchester City Centre. Rochdale lies in the foothills of the Pennines, which separate Rochdale from Yorkshire to the east and Bury lies to the west of the town. Rochdale’s proximity to the Pennines accounts for its rise as a woollen town, as opposed to most Lancashire towns and cities that grew around the cotton trade.

2.2 Historical development 2.2.1 The Parish of Rochdale

Map of Rchdale Parish. Created by Jza84

Rochdale was one of the largest parishes in England, administered via four extensive parishes, subsequently called townships. Three of these townships converged on the town centre which became the trading centre for an otherwise rural industrial economy.

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To the south lay Castleton Township, the name being a reference to Rochdale’s castle to the south-west of the river crossing. To the north-west lay Spotland Township which ran northwards almost as far as Bacup in the Rossendale Forest. To the north-east lay Hundersfield, the largest township which extended a considerable way beyond Todmorden at its northern end while further east laid Butterworth, a township including modern-day Milnrow.

Rochdale had no manor house and the Lords of the Manor, the Byron family did not reside in the parish. The ancient families had their houses dispersed throughout the townships and many, like Stubley Hall, Oakenrod Hall and Clegg Hall still survive. In 1251, Rochdale procured a market charter and around the same time became a medieval Borough with twelve burgesses.

About 1700, Rochdale was described as “a pretty neat town, built all of stone” a result of the town’s proximity to the Pennines. A large house from this period, The Great House, was demolished in the early twentieth century to make space for Newgate. The town consisted of a few streets around the church, with the market cross at the bottom of Yorkshire Street. The buildings were mostly inns to house the merchants and their customers. Shortly after this time, brick was introduced as a building material; seen in the surviving buildings.

2.2.2 Growth of the Woollen Industry

The woollen industry defined the post-medieval development of Rochdale, developing rapidly from the 1500s. Rochdale became Lancashire’s principal wool town serving both English and international markets. Much of the growth took place in the townships, in cottages and early mills adjacent the fast flowing rivers and streams. The town centre housed wool shops, the shops and warehouses of clothiers, mercers and drapers and inns where much trading took place. The town held a weekly wool market, serving around 11 square miles of land. Defoe about 1724 summarised Rochdale as 'a good market town, and of late much improved in the woollen manufacture, as are also the villages in its neighbourhood.' Rochdale’s subsequent history reflects national trends with the emergence of automation, factories and other aspects of the industrial revolution. Rochdale grew rapidly and the town became crowded, polluted, with unsanitary conditions. The weavers’ quality of life rapidly deteriorated and, in the nineteenth century, cotton eventually replaced wool as the largest industry of the town.

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2.2.3 Emergence of the Co-operative Movement

It was during a particular low point where the livelihoods of the hand-loom weavers were finally being broken by the introduction of the power-loom, that Rochdale made its principal contribution to the nation and indeed the world. This was the ‘Rochdale Principles’ of economic co-operation created by the Rochdale Pioneers and have formed the basis of operating principles of co-operatives around the world. Their genius was to find a way of making co-operation work in practice as an alternative to mainstream capitalism. Their success created a world-wide movement that continues to this day.

2.2.4 Rochdale Town Hall

In 1856 the Borough of Rochdale was created and the sprawling ancient parish finally came to an end. The new Borough subsequently took the remarkable step of building one of the finest gothic town halls in England, matching the best that much larger and wealthier towns could build. On all four sides of the Town Hall ran a public square which was connected to a ceremonial esplanade. In terms of scale and imagination, the scheme was one of the largest in the country at that time. The sheer brilliance of the scheme led to subsequent extensions to the south and north, providing Rochdale with a town centre defined by parks and open space.

2.2.5 Early Examples of Conservation

Running parallel to this civic exuberance was the conservation (to the standards of the day) of the key Georgian buildings of the ‘good market town’ described by the writer Daniel Defoe. The parish church was enlarged, with the most historic fabric retained, rather than demolished and rebuilt, as was happening to many medieval churches around this time. This was followed by four of the best Georgian town houses being conserved in one form or another. Finally, the Georgian church of St. Mary in the Baum was incorporated into a new much larger building. Rochdale never quite forgot its Georgian heyday as a prominent woollen town of merchants and journeymen. The visual focus for this romance is The Butts, the enclosing buildings and the old Rochdale Bridge.

2.3 Topography

The River Roch runs approximately east to west through the Town Centre Conservation Area. The valley provides a shaft of space similarly running east to west along which runs Smith Street to the east, South Parade in the middle and The Esplanade to the west. The historic highway runs from Manchester in the south-west to Halifax in the north-east, crossing the valley rather than running along it.

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The valley is too narrow to accommodate the town centre which consequently runs up the valley slopes north and south of the crossing, the latter being too steep in places for development. The steep slopes also cause the highway to cross the contours diagonally and the result is an “S” shape in plan as it negotiates crossing the valley.

The shortage of flat land was part of the reasoning for culverting the river. The problem became acute from the nineteenth century onwards as the size of development increased. The sloping site of the Victorian town hall had to be levelled at great cost using cut and fill techniques while, today, the Wheatsheaf shopping centre has cliff-like elevations at its southern end as runs across the northern valley slope.

2.4 Character areas

The Rochdale Town Centre Conservation Area encompasses the history of the town from medieval to modern times in five distinct historical character areas:

Rochdale Parish Church of St Chad The Old Town Regency Drake Street Rochdale Town Hall, Square & Esplanade Cenotaph & Memorial Gardens

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3 ROCHDALE PARISH CHURCH OF ST CHAD

Overlooking the town and the river to the south is the thirteenth century church of Saint Chad (listed grade II*) situated in an ancient sub-oval enclosure which incorporates a peculiar revetment known as the ‘Saxon wall’ (listed grade II) and includes the medieval stocks (listed grade II) and other listed monuments. Around the church is an attractive green space comprising the church yard, vicarage garden and slopes down to the valley bottom. There are several monuments and features of special interest, including a sundial and the town stocks. Running around the south and east are Church Stile and Church Lane, part of the ancient highway to the river crossing

3.1 Rochdale Parish Church of St Chad (Listed Grade II*)

Saint Chad’s is Rochdale’s medieval parish church and is perhaps the oldest building in Greater Manchester. Early maps indicate that the churchyard was a Saxon sub-oval enclosure, part of which can be seen in the softly curving Church Stile and Church Lane. The dedication to the seventh century English Saint Chad similarly implies a Saxon date. There are no recognisable remains of the Saxon church except perhaps the Saxon Wall (Listed Grade II) an unusual stone boundary fence resembling timber construction. The earliest written evidence of a church is a record that Geoffery Dean of Whalley was the vicar of Rochdale in 1194, the date of a Norman church. This was largely replaced in the thirteenth century and this church developed incrementally over time; the lower part of the tower being the oldest part of the church.

The later architects remained faithful to the church’s perpendicular style. In the nineteenth century Crossland enlarged and altered the church to

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complement his new Town Hall. A new south aisle, porch and an enlarged tower were designed in a similar romantic Gothic style to the Town Hall. Thomas Earp, carved the dozens of figures and rich ornamentation of both

buildings. Thus the Crossland and Earp partnership gave the church a similar theatrical richness to the Town Hall. The process of transformation was completed by a similar partnership between Earp and J. S. Crowther, which designed the chancel in a contrasting yellow stone. As both architects used the sculptor of the Town Hall, Thomas Earp, there is a continuation of styling in the many grotesques, gargoyles and crocketed pinnacles. W. H. Crossland, Thomas Earp and J. S. Crowther transformed the small medieval church into something much more substantial and dignified. Without this increase in scale, the church could not have

become the southern focal point of Town Hall Square. The clock was removed during this remodelling primarily so it didn’t clash with the carillon in the tower of the new Town Hall, although this was destroyed by fire in 1883. Extension is in Yorkshire stones but the main body is in more durable Rossendale stone. Ashlar to the south side and rougher stone to the north side, indicating that it was designed to be viewed more from the south side. The church is long and sculpturally interesting and stands high on the south valley side where it is by far the most significant building. The surrounding church yard is very well kept with attractive lawns, rose beds and small trees around the perimeter. Together, church and church yard form one of the ‘picture postcard’ scenes of the conservation area.

By contrast, long term lack of maintenance on Leyland Bank, the northern slope down to Packer Spout, has resulted in large numbers of self seeded and other unsuitable trees which block out the views of the church from the town below and destroy the panoramic aspect from the church yard. The consequences are high levels of vandalism and anti-social behaviour in this location. Fine West window, “Faith, Hope and Charity,” designed by the pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, and made by designer and craftsman William Morris 1872-74 - outstanding.

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Interesting carvings – on the porch is St Chad holding he church in his hand, impressive gargoyles, on the south side of the tower is a curious ancient carves face, beneath the east window are carved the head of Queen Victoria and three fishes representing the River Roch.

3.2 Churchyard

In addition to the Saxon Wall, there are several interesting monuments in the church yard including the Stocks 1688 (Listed Grade II), Sundial of 1783 (Listed grade II), tomb of John Collier (Tim Bobbin) Fenced grave at east end Rochdale dialect poet, caricaturist and political satirist who died in 1786.and many other early or interesting gravestones the earliest dated 165. The stocks have the date 1668 and are inscribed with the initials W.W. thought to be William Woodley, a former captain of the town watchmen). They were last used in 1822. The Church’s Lychgate was erected in 1890. In 1970 the

majority of gravestones were removed and placed to form a pavements across he graveyard along with the landscaping of the lawns and rosebeds.

3.3 Old Vicarage (Listed Grade II)

The church lawns run seamlessly into those of the Old Vicarage and the pair are almost one. However, this was not always the case. The churchyard wall once ran between the two. It was built in 1760 by Dr James Tunstall (vicar 1757-1765) to humour his wife who did not want her children to acquire Lancashire accents from contact with the local children. The new Vicarage sits in one corner and is a sensitive modern building that relates to its setting well, despite a certain awkward location. The Old Vicarage is a very fine brick

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Georgian house of 1724, extended in 1820. It was built by Rev’d Samuel Dunster D.D. who ‘adopted the plan of his house in Marlborough Street, London’. It replaced a half timbered, thatched house with dirt floors. With the church and church yard, the Vicarage is the principal survivor of the Georgian ‘good market town’ south of the river. The house has suffered recent minor alterations that detract from its character but is otherwise a very fine building in an attractive setting. The once symmetrical entrance gateway has been altered and is a feature worth reinstating. Some self-seeded trees in the rear garden need removing due to the impact on the structural stability of the tall garden wall. Stone quoins, pedimental gable and a pretty doorway with small shell carved inside the hood.

3.4 Church Stile and Church Lane

Church Stile and Church Lane are part of the ancient highway from Manchester. Church Stile runs from the south and wraps itself around the edge of the church yard becoming Church Lane as it runs downhill towards South Parade. At this junction, which also includes School Lane, there is an unorthodox rose-bed traffic island of some charm which has potential to be enhanced. Key townscape features include the stone retaining walls and gate posts of the church yard which extend from Church Lane to the Old Vicarage. The church lych gate, sometimes with the church tower behind, is a good focal point. For example there is a fine view from the south on Church Stile. The historic buildings to the south of Church Style were demolished and replaced with bungalows with lawns. Careful siting of small trees to echo those in the church yard would help to unite the two sides of the road.

Church Stile and Sparrow Hill retain historic stone flagged pavements on their northern sides, adjacent the church. Church Lane has stone pavements on both sides with a ‘cobbled’ or setted street between.

3.5 Saint Chad’s Gardens

This is an Edwardian public garden with fine views of the Town Hall on the slope between Church Lane and Town Hall Square. A formal path and steps acts as a short cut. There are many attractive trees mainly around the edge of the garden. Those adjacent the church yard are too dense and would benefit from thinning out.

3.6 Church Steps, Packer Spout and Leyland Bank

Church Steps are highly significant in their artistic and historic value. Their worn condition is highly attractive and they create another ‘picture postcard’ view of Rochdale. They are currently in need of careful conservation to

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address both structural and safety concerns. Originally there were thirty-three steps which dated from the twelve century. In 1660 these were extended to 122 steps and the stone was quarried from from Blackstone Edge. The Steps were repaired in the early nineteenth century.

Packer Spout is the large fountain on the lower slopes of Leyland Bank. It is a re-working of a spring which in 1760 was piped to become Rochdale’s first modern water supply. The name ‘Packer’ is believed to refer to the men and pack horses of the woollen trade who used the spring. The Georgian Market Cross (Listed Grade II) has relocated here and the gardens form an attractive part of the conservation area with fine views of the Town Hall.

The above-mentioned self-seeded trees on the higher parts of Leyland Bank block the views to and from the church and over shadow Church Steps. They should be largely removed but retaining those specimens which contribute to the character of the area. The restored parkland around the Packer Spout should be extended upwards as far as possible up Leyland Bank.

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4 THE OLD TOWN

The old town lays either side of the river crossing, developing around the ‘s’ shaped route needed to navigate the steep banks of the river Roch. Georgian brick buildings replaced the stone and timber-framed structures of earlier generations, but the medieval footprint remains particularly in the ‘Ginnels.’ The medieval passageways, aligned from Yorkshire Street to the Butts which allowed the passage of stock to and from the ford. South of the river, development was restricted by glebe land.

4.1 Rochdale Bridge & the River Roch

The five-phase Rochdale Bridge survives hidden under a concrete platform. Its two earliest phases appear to be medieval and are likely to date to the thirteenth century, making them the oldest complete structure in the conservation area and a heritage asset of the highest importance.

In medieval times the ford crossing at the Butts was complemented by a three-arched bridge built on its western side. It was widened four times so that the original narrow bridge is sandwiched between these later bridges. The first widening is also medieval with two further widenings of the Georgian period and a final one of Regency date. The bridge has been studied and recorded in detail. The parapets have been removed and facing stonework damaged but otherwise the bridge is fully intact. In the early twentieth century, modern bridging techniques allowed almost the entire river in the town centre to be covered over making the river all but invisible. Rochdale subsequently made the rather dubious claim of having the widest bridge in the world, by placing matching parapets at each end of what was effectively a culvert. Exposing, conserving and interpreting the bridge, while opening the river up either side, would be a transforming enhancement of the conservation area.

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The river itself is invisible being covered over by an early example of a ferro-concrete construction, known as Butts Bridge. It covers the river between Wellington Bridge (1882) at the bottom of Drake Street and Rochdale Bridge and is sloped slightly to connect The Butts with the higher level of South Parade. The presence of the structure is completely invisible, the whole area being covered with a floorscape design. The loss of the river makes the space much too large for the modest buildings the enclose it. In the 1960s the architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, stated that the area was ‘confusing’ with the spaces seeming to be ‘accidental’. Consequently, the area between The Butts and South Parade does not work well as a public space.

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4.2 The Butts

The Butts lies to the north of the River Roch in the heart of the conservation area where a natural space is formed by the slightly wider valley. However, with the Roch and its bridge covered over, the buildings enclose a poor and somewhat inexplicable space. The name comes from its use for archery practice in medieval times. It is a broadly triangular space with a warm south facing aspect and is enclosed by a series of interesting buildings. At the present time, its character is greatly compromised by its use as a large taxi rank.

4.2.1 The Regal Moon P.H.

The Regal Moon P.H. was formerly the Regal Cinema of 1938. It has a plain

early modern style with a classical feel. There is a very well composed white Art Deco central bay which is the focal point of the design.

4.2.2 The Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland is comprised of four interconnected bank

buildings which, taken together, illustrate the development of local finance from its initial association with the woollen industry.

The house was built by Joseph Tomlinson for the Vavasour Family. Its exact

date is unknown, but it was leased by William Rawson of the private banking firm John, William and Christopher Rawson & Co when he moved to Rochdale in 1819 to establish the bank’s footing in Rochdale. This marked a turning point in the growth of banking in Rochdale with three other banks opening in the town between 1818 and 1819. Previous to this, banking in the town had been intermittent for example the Rawson’s had provided banking facilities from premises at the bottom of Yorkshire Street every Monday, on market day.

The large ‘Banking House’ became the residence of the Thomas Rawson

Family and the banking business was conducted from an adjoining annex. It is a small but high quality stone building designed in an engaging Greek Revival style and tucked into the ginnel of The Butts Avenue. The Rochdale Branch of the Rawson’s Bank was sold to Clement Royds, a merchant in 1827. Royds & Co became the most important of the Rochdale Georgian Banks, even

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printing its own money. The bank a was rebuilt in 1879 into a purpose built banking house designed by the Rochdale architect James Cheetham, who also built the Pioneers Central Store in 1867. In 1881, the Royds bank was sold by Clement Royd’s grathe grandson, Clement Molyneaux Royds, to the Manchester and Salford Bank where he was appointed a director and continued to manage the Rochdale business. The bank later merged with Williams Deacon’s, a London bank

The banking house was substantially redesigned by Cecil Jackson in 1913 to

the large Portland stone building seen today. The building was extended forward by one bay with the old banking house remaining at the rear. The original front elevation was removed for a banking hall but the new facade was broadly in the character of the old with an attractive semi-circular porch. As a further gesture towards conserving the past, the architect retained the original Georgian door case and a window and created a small extension on the western side containing a staircase to the upper floors of the bank. An attractive conservation scheme of stone setts and a gate was installed in recent times in front of the bank, matching the one at the Toad Lane Co-operative Museum. It was the very first Rochdale building to be listed (Grade II), beating even the Town Hall. The fourth building (Listed Grade II) connects the banks on the Butts to an entrance on Baillie Street with a fine brick and stone Italianate facade. It was built in 1890 as two shops with a hall above and a grand entrance which, surprisingly, opens onto an elaborately tiled staircase running down to the rear of the Greek building.

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4.2.3 Georgian cloth warehouse, The Butts

Facing onto The Butts between The Butts Avenue and another ginnel, The Stationers Entry, is a Georgian cloth warehouse converted to shops. Its three storey loading bay has been filled with Victorian windows.

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4.2.4 Former Burtons

Adjacent this, between The Stationers Entry and The Walk is an attractive white Art Deco store, formerly Burtons, which is well proportioned and finely detailed. The reworking of the ground floor to create a bank has not been a complete success.

4.2.5 Fishwick newsagents and the rhythm the white and red brick buildings

On the opposite side of The Walk lies a Georgian shop, diminutive in comparison to the Burton’s store. Its scale and the wide second floor window suggest it was a weavers’ cottage. An important aspect of the character of The Butts is the role of the white buildings against the backdrop of the brick buildings. The white former Burtons Store, Royal Bank of Scotland and central part of the former Regal Cinema impart a rhythm and lightness to the scene. They depend on having a muted background which is largely provided by the other buildings. In this regard, the white painted Georgian shop on The Walk as well as the painted rear of a tall warehouse on Baillie Street

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would benefit from being returned to their original brick finish to improve both their own appearance and that of the wider townscape.

4.3 The Ginnels

There are various ginnels in this character area. These connecting The Butts to Yorkshire Street and Baillie Street are the most numerous:

The Butts Avenue Bull Brow Stationers Entry The Walk Lyceum Passage

There are three that link Baillie Street to Yorkshire Street:

Pack Horse Yard The Bank New Buildings Place

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And a further two that connect Yorkshire Street to Newgate:

Lower Gates The Roebuck P. H. passage

The ginnels vary in their character and appearance; some go through buildings while others contain attractive flights of steps. Some are in better condition than others but, as a group, they have considerable potential to enliven the town centre if appropriately enhanced and promoted.

4.4 Yorkshire Street

The lower part of Yorkshire Street gently curves as it makes its way downhill to Rochdale Bridge. North of Baillie Street, the road is narrow and varying in width. This is complemented by the small scale shops on the eastern side which reflect medieval or post-medieval sized plots. An exception to this is the Art Deco styled Marks & Spencer store which, despite its larger footprint, fits well into the street scene. The Georgian, Victorian and early twentieth century shops are generally characterful modest buildings that would benefit from the reinstatement of missing historic features. The western side is, unfortunately, overwhelmed by the out-of-scale and poorly detailed Exchange Shopping Centre which also dominates the small Georgian market place, known as Lord Square. Behind which rises an early Co-operative store, its ground floor integrated into the shopping centre. The Co-op advert on the side of this building has faded and should be restored as a symbol of

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Rochdale’s Co-operative heritage. South of Baillie Street, Yorkshire Street broadens out and the buildings become larger with banks replacing shops. Two fine examples are the curved Halifax which continues the plain Regency styling and the former Fenton’s bank (Yorkshire Bank) with its giant pilasters. Yorkshire Street terminates at Rochdale Bridge where two classical banks of yellow ashlar stone, Barclays and HSBC, make a fine entrance gateway, though Barclays was once more prominent with a domed corner. Like the architecture, the materials of the Old Town are varied though with an underlying logic. More modest buildings such as houses, warehouses and shops are generally in brick with stone dressings. Banks are generally in ashlar stone.

4.4.1 Lloyds Bank (1708)

Originally the residence of the Vavasour Family, then an Inn, Lloyds Bank (1708 Listed Grade II) is a sophisticated three storey corner design with superimposed pilasters of the Ionic and Composite orders. The Vavasours constructed The Walk as a more direct route to the riverbank at The Butts. It later developed into a pretty shopping street though today is suffering from excessive clutter. The house became the Union Flag Hotel and was the centre of Jacobite activity in the town in 1745.

4.4.2 The old Bluebell Hotel

The old Bluebell Hotel, dated 1749 (other reports date it 1745), is a plainer house with attractive Flemish bond brickwork. It was built for the Stead Family. It has lost its upper sash windows. At the rear it becomes a stone Edwardian Yates’ Wine Lodge with the date 1911, when it became the wine lodge.

4.4.3 The Roebuck P.H

The Roebuck P.H. is a somewhat larger and slightly later house tucked away behind the street frontage. Historic importance of The Roebuck to be added..

4.5 Baillie Street

Baillie Street was a Regency period speculative development to access land to the east of the old town. Where it connected to Yorkshire Street, it had to be squeezed between existing buildings and the consequently narrow street appears earlier than it actually is. Nevertheless, the facades a grander and of a higher quality than further up Yorkshire Street. There are several plain Georgian styled buildings, some of which are converted wool warehouses, with their hoists and taking-in doors sometimes disguised. A particularly fine example is the four storey 4-8 Baillie Street which may have pre-existed the

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street and through which Bull Brow descends to The Butts. Unfortunately, the building has been defenestrated with upvc windows which detract greatly from a fine and unusual building.

4.5.1 5 Baillie Street

The former wine and porter shop, 5 Baillie Street, (Listed Grade II) is in a similar plain style but with an extravagant stone-carved Italianate shop front composed of round-headed windows. The former William Deacon and Manchester and Salford Bank opposite makes a nod to the wine merchants in its stone carved details.

4.5.2 17a-21 Baillie Street

Further down Baillie Street, beyond the rear of Marks & Spencer there is a charming group of three attractive commercial buildings. The largest is a three storey brick warehouse (listed Grade 2), plain but with string courses and a fine stone doorway. Adjacent is a two-storey ornamented Italianate office with an ashlar ground floor and brick and stone above and next to this is a smaller stone-built office with a facade of three round arches in the manner of 5 Baillie Street. All three are early Victorian designs and illustrate the changing architectural fashion as the century progressed.

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5. REGENCY DRAKE STREET

The Rochdale woollen industry grew rapidly in the post medieval period and by the early 1700s, merchants’ houses, public houses and warehouses began to be built in the Georgian style. The Regency period saw the rapid expansion of industry and trade so that wider roads and bigger buildings were needed. Church Lane was by-passed around 1810 by a new wide street named after the then Vicar, Rev’d Drake which connected the town centre to the Rochdale Canal at the top of the valley slope. The road was a significant achievement for the period and allowed rapid development south of the river. The road was a significant achievement for the period and allowed rapid development south of the river. At the canal basin, the street turned westwards to connect to a new road to Manchester and, to this day, has two parts, a commercial part climbing the valley side to the canal basin of 1798 (now hidden by later development) and a residential part running on largely flat land south of Broadfield Park. Drake Street is a Regency development responding to the growing population, industry and ambition of the Rochdale area. With the opening of the Manchester-Leeds railway in 1838, the street also became the strong link between Rochdale railway station and the centre of Rochdale down the hill. From its origins the street has positively contributed to the image of Rochdale, as a famous specialised shopping street. Today larger twentieth century buildings intermingle with more modest Regency properties in a traditional street scene. Drake Street was the principal shopping street of Rochdale until the 1980s when shopping

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developments north of the river led to a dramatic decline in its fortunes. The area has a mixed townscape of variable quality characterised by warehouses, newspaper publishing buildings, a Methodist Central Hall (Champness Hall), various retail shops, including the Rochdale Pioneers’ first bespoke Co-operative shop (arguably the first modern Co-operative store in the world) and an early Co-operative Department Store known as ‘Fashion Corner’. In between there are gap sites and buildings of poor quality. Overall, Drake Street is well-recognised and greatly cherished with many buildings of local importance to Rochdale’s history and identity. There are high levels of vacancies along Drake Street indicating market failure and some buildings are now in a very poor state of repair, most notably the former Iveson’s furniture store and warehouse, a much loved Rochdale landmark.

5.1 South Parade:

At its northern extent, Drake Street sweeps around onto South Parade. The buildings on the eastern end of the South Parade represent a continuation of the buildings at the bottom of Church Lane and Drake Street as they attractively turn the corner onto South Parade. The sweeping corner is a reminder that this was once a busy and difficult bend to navigate. The buildings are characteristically plain Georgian three storey shops of stuccoed brick with stone lintels. They have suffered some mutilation, such as the removal of the historic chimneys and the loss of the stone flagged roofs, and presently are not looking their best. The Pacific Club, 8 South Parade marks the transition to the western end of South Parade which relates more closely to the character area of the Town Hall, Square and Esplanade. South Parade traditionally carried the main highway from the bottom of Church Lane to Rochdale Bridge, running adjacent to the river for a short distance. South Parade needed to be carefully maintained both as a highway

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and part of the river ford. Consequently, whereas The Butts once gently ran down to the river in a natural way, South Parade had to be protected and maintained against damage and flooding. In the early nineteenth century it was referred to as the New Wall; a clear reference to this. South Parade is therefore a short street with buildings on the south side only.

5.2 The Duke of Wellington Hotel (Grade II listed)

At the bottom of Drake Street, opposite the curved frontage onto South Parade, is the Former Duke of Wellington Hotel which was opened in 1810. Before The Wellington, it was the Smith Family townhouse and the built date is thought to be around 1750. The Smiths were a merchant family with strong trading connections to Portugal. This was their town residence and they spent summertime a short distance away at Summer Castle, a now demolished residence on the hillside to the south east of Drake Street. Although now demolished, Summer Castle and its windmill can be seen in old paintings of South Parade and what is now the bottom of Drake Street. The building has significance as the backdrop to Rochdale’s political development. As the leading coach house in the town it would have been busy with travellers, locals and merchants debating and exchanging ideas. Between 1825 and 1839 the Commissioners of Police held their first meeting at the Hotel. The immediate area outside the Wellington was known as Speaker’s corner and hustings were last erected opposite the Wellington Hotel on November 16th 1868 when 10,000 people were estimated to be present.

5.3 Butterworth Brothers Diamond Merchants (14 Drake Street)

Butterworth Bros shop was established in 1903, although the building itself was built in 1896. The Butterworth family is one of the longest established in Rochdale. Butterworth Bros is prominently positioned at the junction of Drake Street and Church Lane and has a highly attractive shop front that reinforces the character of Drake Street as a historical shopping street. The front façade of the building has a soft curved shape and is orientated for maximum visibility looking up Drake Street from the Butts. The building is split over three floors and is built of brick with sandstone cills and lintels, string courses, cornice and coping stones to the parapet. The traditional dark brown, gold and cream shop front is particularly attractive. In 1981 it underwent an extensive renovation. The delicate carving of the original front was faithfully reproduced but only the top facia of the original frontage remains.

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5.4 Church Lane, Nelson Street & Fleece Street 5.4.1 The Deaf and Dumb Institute (23 Church Lane)

The institute for the Deaf and Dumb was built in Rochdale and opened on the 16th of October 1907. Located on Church Lane, it was designed by Messrs S. Butterworth and Duncan, excellent Edwardian architects who were established in Rochdale. The Deaf and Dumb institute is of high architectural value and possesses a strong character that contributes to the identity of Rochdale. The brickwork, the window sills and the arches are in bright red Huncoat bricks. For the wall light-coloured Manchester headers bricks were used to build the facade. The stone features are made of red sandstone from St Bees and Buttermere green slates are used on the roof. This Edgar Wood style building has divided windows with cottage style and an Art Nouveau column with a flat ‘mortar board’ on the top.

5.4.2 Former Temperance Billiard Hall, Nelson Street

Billiard Temperance Hall was built in 1909 by Norman Evans and was originally a magnificent building dominated by an arcade. The former Temperance Billiard Hall closed in 1969 and later knew a mix of uses including ballroom dancing and nightclub and is now a Chinese Restaurant.

The façade of this former temperance hall has been so altered as to have completely lost its original identity. Over time, it may be possible to reverse some of this however the costs involved would be substantial. The proportion of the building has been maintained and some details may survive behind the new facade. The arcade in the frontage of the building is still visible, but is less imposing because its size was reduced by an additional

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floor built many years ago. The square-shaped windows of the ground floor were preserved but two of them have been filled in. The dome at the entrance of the building, the features of which were rich in style, based on flourishing details.

5.8 Drakes Public House (34 Drake Street)

Drake Pub is one of the key buildings of Drake Street. It was built in the 1820s around the time Drake Street was constructed. The Pub has Regency style architecture. The fenestration of the building has suffered through the loss of the original windows and their pattern. Thanks to its good stucco façade and the interesting articulation of the chimneys, the building makes a positive contribution to the character of the area. In addition, the door surround is an interesting design of architectural significance; substantial pilasters capped by a cornice with a fanlight above that. Either side of the fanlight is a scroll. The fanlight and its freestyle decoration may have been a later addition to the classical door surround below. Above the door is a phoenix moulded onto the façade of the building.

5.9 Ivesons

Originally built in the mid 1850s and located in the middle of Drake Street, the Iveson building records part of a famous Rochdale trader’s history. From 1818 and over more than one century, Drake Street was the traditional shopping street of the town. During their 175 years of trade, the Iveson family has built its own Empire, possessing several stores in the town, the last closing in 1995. The most famous Iveson’s shop has a dual history because it is composed of two adjacent buildings: the main Trafalgar Building shop and the adjacent Iveson Brother warehouse. Also the existing hairdresser at no.

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14 Nelson Street was formerly owned by the Ivesons and used a supplementary warehouse. The main issue and concern is that both buildings on 42-46 Drake Street are facing problems of dereliction, due to almost 20 years of vacancy. At first glance the building seems to be in good condition, but it is now at substantial risk. For instance, a long crack is visible on the warehouse façade, and trees growing inside are damaging the structure.

5.9.1 Trafalgar Building (42-46 Drake Street)

The Trafalgar building is located at the corner of Drake Street at the junction with Nelson Street. It was built in the mid 1850’s and remodelled in 1901. That year, the A.I. initials of Ann Iveson were engraved in the wall. The corner façade is high and dominates the streetscape, symbolizing the success of the family in trade. The inscriptions left on the top of the tower, give information about the former sales of carpets, founding the reputation of the Iveson.

5.9.2 Iveson Brother Warehouse

The adjacent warehouse was built in the 1920’s when the Iveson Brothers moved their other store from Oldham Road to no. 42-46 Drake Street. Although at first glance it appears as a modest warehouse building, it possesses interesting Art Deco architectural features. This building is a significant part of the street scene and it is made of a mix red bricks, faience, and mouldings on its façade and tall pilasters which frame the glass windows.

5.9.3 Former Iveson Warehouse (14 Nelson Street)

The Iveson family also possessed another warehouse on Nelson Street, which was built between 1926 and 1932. The building became a hairdressers in 2008. This former premise was designed in the same architectural style of the Iveson Brothers warehouse. Indeed, the detailing on both frontages is identical. Some of the elements are identical such as the tall stone pilasters which frame the windows. Six are visible on Iveson building but four exist in 14 Nelson Street. In addition to that, high value sculptures are exactly the same on both buildings and contribute to create an architectural and historical link between the two buildings. Moreover, the floorscape made of paving setts in front of the building also strengthens its character. This traditional floor links the premise to Chuch Lane, which is entirely paved.

5.10 Champness Hall, Drake Street Champness Hall is an Art Deco heritage building which takes advantage of its strategic location in the middle of the shopping street while also facing down Water Street. It is an imposing structure in the urban landscape and a precious heritage building testifying to the history of Rochdale.

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Inaugurated the 8th September 1925 by the mayor of Rochdale, the Hall was named after Thomas Champness (1832-1905), a Methodist Minister. It was designed by Mr. A. Brocklehurst and Co. architect, an interwar practice based in Manchester which designed a number of chapels and central halls for the Methodist Church. The building was erected by R. & T. Howarth, the principal Rochdale building company of the time with a high reputation

for quality. Champness Hall was built to combine religious functions and social meetings: it housed the Methodist Mission in Rochdale. It was not only a place of worship but also the headquarters of several organisations which served community as a whole.

The 2,000 seated Art Deco auditorium is the centrepiece of the Champness Hall. The building has a secular almost ‘cinema’ character quite unlike a church. This was a deliberate design approach of the time, as Methodist halls were meant to appeal to both believers and non-believers alike. The large windows are one of the most impressive Art Deco features. Champness Hall façade was built of Crossland Hill, Yorkshire stone and until 1957 it was dominated by a dome, which was demolished due to rot dry. It was replaced with a large stone pediment which, despite being well-built, is not particularly sensitive to the visual upward thrust of the design.

Despite appearing in a good condition, the Hall is not at its visual best. Nevertheless, its strategic situation along Drake Street and huge size makes the building a huge potential as a positive asset for the town, capable of providing a mix of uses for the community.

5.11 The Fashion Corner, 57-59 Drake Street

The Fashion Corner building is located at the junction of Drake Street and Water Street, facing Champness Methodist Hall. Built in 1886 as a Reform Club, it became a James Duckworths store before subsequently being taken

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over by the co-operations for which it is best known as. It opened its door to the public in 1922 as a drapery shop. Then it sold clothes and became the ‘Fashion Corner’.

The façade of the building is particularly impressive because of its soft rounded shape. In spite of its location on a corner, the façade is not rectangular but drawn in a smooth and circled shape around the corner. The frontage is decorated by expensive sculpted stone architectural features that reinforce the strong character of this building. The original building possessed a dome which dominated the curved façade but this was demolished between the 1940s and the 1960s. The removal of the dome had a negative impact on the visual impact of the building. In 1983, the building was sold to Rochdale Council and became a ‘Project House’ and then housed the ‘Poll tax house’. Today, the Fashion Corner houses departments of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council. This three-storey building is a key landmark of in Drake Street and is very much part of the identity of the historic shopping street.

5.12 Water Street 5.12.1 Waterside House

Waterside House marks the entrance of the conservation area to the east. This former warehouse located in front of the river Roch possesses a high architectural value that contributes to enhance the character the conservation area.

This red brick multi storey building of traditional construction has its main entrance on Water Street but also a direct access to the Roch at the back.

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This link to the river is one of the most important assets of the building, witness of the flourishing industrial times or Rochdale in the textile industry. The ground floor and first floor comprise well-made windows. On the top, they are framed by white stone, that creates a contrast of style and contribute to the character of the building. Waterside House marks the entrance of the conservation area to the east. This former warehouse located in front of the river Roch possesses a high architectural value that contributes to enhance the character the conservation area.

This red brick multi storey building of traditional construction has its main entrance on Water Street but also a direct access to the Roch at the back. This link to the river is one of the most important assets of the building, witness of the flourishing industrial times or Rochdale in the textile industry. The ground floor and first floor comprise well-made windows. On the top, they are framed by white stone, that creates a contrast of style and contribute to the character of the building.

5.12.2 Gym Club, 10 Water Street

The building named ‘Saint Chad’s Fold’ was built in 1906 as indicated on the façade and is now a gym Club. This building located in Water Street has a substantial contribution to Rochdale urban landscape. This one-storey building was constructed in red bricks and possesses interesting architectural features. The wide windows of the façade are framed with stone. The contrast of material accentuates the character of the building.

5.13 The Rochdale Observer buildings

The former premises of the Rochdale Observer local newspaper include the main building on Drake Street and the printing works on School Lane. The Rochdale Observer newspaper was first published in 1856 during the flourishing time of the textile industry. But in 2009 the publication of the Rochdale Observer was transferred on

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Deansgate in Manchester, when MEN Media centralised its editorial operations.

5.13.1 The Rochdale Observer Building, Drake Street

The building was erected between 1930 and 1960, the date in which it appears in the Ordnance Survey maps. With its Art Deco style, the building has a positive contribution in the streetscape of Drake Street. The large window on the façade tells us the history of a building constructed to publish a newspaper. The premise is brick made but the façade is fully covered with white render.

5.13.2 Rochdale Observer printing works, School Lane

This building located on School Lane was built in 1925. It housed the editorial and administrative office of the Rochdale Observer newspaper and the printing works. The architecture of the building is particularly interesting thanks to its triangle shape. The red brick is the general material but the architectural details are highlighted with the use of stone. The doorway for instance was designed with bricks that give a strong character to the building. The windows are also framed by the stone, accentuating the style. A footway at the back links this printing works building to the Observer building on Drake Street.

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5.14 Cooperative Shop, Oldham Road

This building is part of the Coop Heritage of Rochdale. It was erected on Oldham Road in 1856 as a branch shop. This premise was an extension of the first Coop shop located on Toad Lane often crowded with customers. This red-brick building plays an important role in Rochdale, because it is part of its co-operative history. Located up the hill, this building of high architectural value contributes to enhance the streetscape. This is a landmark despites its modest size.

The character of the building is given by the specific features of the windows. The blue bricks framing the windows create a contrast with the redness of the building and underline the curve of the windows. The impressive façade of the building is partly hidden by the advertising of the shops housed in the buildings. The original ground floor is not visible and that has a negative impact on the value of the building.

5.15 Corner building (16 Milnrow Road)

Facing the Wet Rake Gardens, this imposing landmark building is located at the junction with Oldham Road and Milnrow Road. The structure has a strategic position at the top of the hill up Drake Street and marks the entrance to the Town Centre Conservation to the South East. As written on

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the plaque attached to the façade, the building was established in 1869 and erected in 1877. Its triangle shape and its roof give the building its significant character so as to the smooth edges. Red brick is the main material used for the building, and white stone is used to frame the windows is also used for the ground floor façade. A large clock on the corner is another architectural feature that contributes to the positive image of the building. Recent research suggests this was used as a Conservative Co-op, an early rival to the Rochdale Pioneers.

5.16 Baron Street 5.16.1 4 Baron Street

Located at the junction with Baron Street and Water Street, this brick made building contributes to the character of the conservation area. The building is currently used as a Central Auction Room, but its architecture dates from the industrial era. A pulley is still visible at the top of the principal window on the first floor. That indicates that the building was probably formerly used as a warehouse. The large windows are framed by stone and that creates an interesting contrast and gives more value to the building.

5.16.2 Former Stables (24/28 Baron Street)

The enlarge Town Centre Conservation Area comprises a building of architectural significance which contrasts with the other key buildings of the area. This long red-brick building was erected between 1844 and 1930 during

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the flourishing times of the textile industry. A horse head visible on the façade is probably the witness of the stable function of the building. A Bulls head on the opposite door may indicate a connection to bull baiting which used to take place at the ford in the River Roch.

5.16.3 Castle Works, former Print Works and Iron Foundry

This is a large building that is prominent on Baron Street and, via a gap in the townscape, Drake Street. Most striking is the Art Nouveau designed gable end and window that looks onto Drake Street.

5.17 132 Drake Street

This building is located at the junction with Moore Street and Drake Street, which is the historical shopping street of Rochdale. The architecture of the building corresponds to the regency style. Constructed with red bricks, the building was built before the 1930’s according to Ordnance Survey maps. Today the building hosts the ADS Alcohol and Drug Service of Rochdale. Some interesting architectural features contribute to enhance the character of the building such as the wooden frames of the windows.

5.18 Sunday School, Moore Street

Moore Street Congregational Church Sunday School was built in 1828 in Rochdale and was a former place of worship. The school was erected during the industrial revolution in order to educate the children, mostly working in factories. The architecture of this school has a Pennine character given by the

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local stone used to construct the building. Moore Street British School opened in 1834. It was the first school in Rochdale to be opened under the British & Foreign School Society. Its first Superintendent was Mr. Birkby. It was a boys only school, with fees of 2d (less than 1p) per week, and was open to boys over 6 years of age. It operated until the Baillie Street School could be built in 1837. Unlike Moore Street School, Baillie Street had departments for both boys and girls.

6. ROCHDALE TOWN HALL, SQUARE & ESPLANADE

South of the river, the Town Hall Square and The Esplanade (1864-71) was an artistic creation of the highest order with set-piece buildings in an expansive layout planned according to romantic and picturesque principles. Rochdale Town Hall and the clock tower rise sublimely from a very large plaza connected to Manchester Road by a ceremonial way, The Esplanade. The scheme is completed by romantic gardens created on the valley slopes (registered park grade II). The simplicity and the visionary scale of the scene contrast with the adjacent Old Town. Excessive parking dramatically lowers the quality of the scene and the functionality of the plaza.

6.1 Rochdale Town Hall

Rochdale Town Hall is one of the most ambitious Victorian town halls in England. In terms of vision, design and decoration only a handful of other buildings can match it, all in much larger towns or cities. In terms of Gothic design, there is only Manchester Town Hall to compare. Rochdale and its people were influential when the Town Hall was built. For example, John Bright, who laid the foundation stone in 1866, was of sufficient importance to correspond with President Abraham Lincoln. Listed Grade I, the Town Hall lies in the top two percent of all listed buildings and is of international

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importance. Famously Adolf Hitler singled it out for special attention had he defeated Britain. Despite this, the Town Hall has experienced a benign indifference over many decades. Recent generations have struggled to embrace the scale of its vision and many changes have been poor and demeaning. However, a change of mind and a new enthusiasm is emerging. The Town Hall is recognised as the defining building of Rochdale. It stands centre-stage in our creative thinking towards the town centre.

A competition for the design of the Town Hall was held in 1864 and won by W.H. Crossland of Leeds. The original estimate for the Town Hall was £20,000 a sum spent just on cutting out and levelling the site. The final cost was over £160,000, a vast sum but to which must also be added the costs of creating Town Hall Square, terracing the Roch, The Esplanade and Park Slopes, and the associated costs for erecting Trinity Presbyterian Church and the extensions to St. Chad's Church, including adding a new belfry to the tower. Thus the overall scheme was immensely ambitious and expensive.

The 1860s was an era of high romanticism in art, literature and music. The Gothic revival celebrated the medieval past and dreamt of a civilised future, free from grim industrial squalor. It was individual, dynamic and non-authoritarian. However, most towns conservatively chose the old classical style for their town halls but in 1864 Rochdale chose Gothic, thereby making a clear statement as to its individuality and aspiration. The Town Hall is crammed with art and design celebrating Rochdale, its people, technology, geography, history and industry. It was placed in a magnificent and picturesque setting - which took more than fifty years to complete. Rochdale Town Hall is the finest expression of High Victorian aesthetics, a building of rare picturesque beauty with wonderful interior schemes and stained glass. Its quality and richness mirrors the sophistication of the

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underlying aesthetic theory. Romantic architecture tried to invoke emotions and associations such as longing, nobility and heroism and was a response to the hard realities of the industrial revolution. Broadly speaking, it saw national greatness, commerce and community transformed by medieval sentiment and chivalry. The roots of Victorian aesthetics lay in the theories of the “sublime” and the “beautiful”, developed in the 1750s. Sublime referred to the sensation of being overwhelmed by something huge and awesome while beautiful, its opposite, referred to the feelings created by things small, soft and feminine. In the later 1700s, theorists created a middle aesthetic, called the “picturesque”, which described feelings associated with informality, asymmetry, countryside and the seasons. In the 1830s and 40s, the picturesque was transformed into a radical architectural theory by A. W. N. Pugin, the great architect of the Houses of Parliament. At Rochdale Town Hall, all of this can be seen in the design and execution of the building.

Thus the Town Hall and its setting are given over to romanticism and architectural theatre to inspire feelings of the beautiful, picturesque and sublime. Beauty is experienced in paintings, sculpture, furniture, tiles and stained glass as well as (originally) in the sounds of 12 bells, and carillon of 14 tunes in the clock tower. Many of these works of art are inspired by the natural. The Picturesque lies in the irregular gothic shapes of the Town Hall, the remodelled Saint Chad’s Church and other buildings. It also lies in the asymmetrical layouts, planting and the design of Town Hall Square, The Esplanade and Park Slopes and (originally) in the sound of the swiftly flowing River Roch. The Sublime, the most dramatic of emotional responses, is induced by the Town Hall rising as a single mass from the middle of a flat plaza, the artificially steepened valley sides and St. Chad’s Church looming high up above the Square. However, the principal element of the sublime was the soaring verticality of Crossland’s mighty towering clock and its

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colourful timber spire crowned by Saint George. The clock tower was destroyed by fire in 1883. Crossland was unavailable to rebuilt the tower so the Council appointed Alfred Waterhouse to design the replacement. The use of local millstone grit in the building of the Town Hall is an ingenious choice celebrating the town’s Pennine history as the root of its wealth but also for the sublime effect it creates of a natural rock face.

The strong verticality and plain masonry of the tower is echoed in the adjacent stair turret and gable end. The angled sills of the stair windows point upwards in the direction of the tower. There is no attempt to moderate or tone down the sense of the sublime and it has not been possible to find another example where such a tall tower deliberately overwhelms its square quite to this degree.

The western side is very different. The architecture is broken down into a complicated elevation of buildings, roofs, chimneys and finials that merge into the picturesque landforms to the south. On Park Slopes, Crossland marked the best viewing spot with a line of ornate railings that still exist. The picturesque west elevation draws the visitor to the building along The Esplanade.

6.2 Town Hall Square

Town Hall Square is part of the Crossland master plan. Originally, Town Hall Square was a beautifully urbane and uncluttered space. It joined all four parts of Victorian Rochdale together, the north, via Yorkshire Street, the east, via The Butts, the south, via Church Steps, and the west via The Esplanade - altogether a very symbolic piece of town planning. The focus of the square

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was the statue of John Bright, created by the famous sculptor Hamo Thorneycroft, which could be seen from all four directions. Commercial buildings were planned and built on the eastern side of the Square. Crossland and Crowther’s enlargement of St Chad’s Church enclosed the Square from the south. Crossland also doubled the width of Rochdale Bridge, transforming it into a wide platform so people could sweep down Yorkshire Street over the river and into the Square unhindered by any obstruction. Access from the south was via the ancient Church Steps which gave excellent views across the Square.

The buildings along Packer Street form an impressive frontage, the impact of which has been obstructed by a row of mainly purple ash trees, which although attractive in their own right cut these important buildings off from the square and are damaging their stonework.

6.2.1 Empire Hall

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This art nouveau building was opened as a music hall in 1904 and later became a picture house.

6.2.2 The Flying Horse Hotel

The original Flying Horse Hotel was built in the late 18th century and has the largest assembly room prior to the building of the Town Hall. The weekly Police Court was also held there. The hotel was reconstructed to a much higher quality in 192. There is a separate entrance to the first floor.

6.2.3 The Old Post Office

Now a public house, this was once Rochale’s Post Office and later still the offices of the County Court.

6.2.4 AST Hampsons Solicitors

AST Hampsons Solicitors is a good quality Victorian office building with a Venetian Gothic stylistic reference. It stands on the corner of Packer Street and South Parade. The red brick building was known as Town Hall Chambers and was also home to the post office for a period.

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6.2.5 Bar 5

Bar 5 was designed by Moulds and Porritt and is a superb quality Edwardian bank. It is a tall ashlar stone building with a lead covered dome. It has an Art Nouveau inspired Mannerist style with excellent detailing and sculpture.

The adjacent 3 and 5 South Parade is a smaller Edwardian Bank in ashlar stone and many period features adjacent to which is the brick and stone end elevation of Town Hall Chambers, Rochdale’s first post office.

6.3 The Esplanade

The name, “Esplanade” means a stretch of pavement used as a promenade and was proposed by a Cllr. Taylor as an alternative to the ubiquitous “Corporation Street”. It was laid out in 1871 and formed a seamless extension of the "wrap-around" Town Hall Square. Trinity United Presbyterian Church marked the western extent, a Gothic focal point similar to St. Chad's Church. The Gothic theme was continued by the Old Grammar School, (since replaced by Broadfield Hotel) which sat atop Park Slopes overlooking The Esplanade. Behind this Sparrow Hill was alignment with Trinity Church as its focal point. The Esplanade is the picturesque equivalent of a long symmetrical vista to a classical town hall and square. However, unlike classical design, nothing is perfectly straight, symmetrical or “on axis” and everything appears informal and accidental. For example, from the west, the gently curving Esplanade never quite frames the Town Hall. Over the decades, the junction of The Esplanade with Manchester Road has been the principal gateway to Rochdale Town Hall and centre. After the

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unfortunate destruction of Trinity Church and The Angelthe gateway has been strengthened by two “Spires” that take their cue from the five picturesque fleches on the roofs of Touchstones. The Spires were created in 1997 by Jeremy Waygood and with the creation of Touchstones have helped to redress the earlier losses. They are thoroughly positive developments that have helped to recreate the gateway effect, though their general setting is compromised by the road junction that takes up most of the available space. The fast-flowing River Roch was another element to the design that imparted a sense of wild-ness so beloved by the Romantics. The character of the river varied: at the Butts it was wider and slower and had been crossed by a bridge and ford for centuries but adjacent The Esplanade it was narrow and faster running. The land levels adjacent the Roch were raised thereby alluding to the cliff-like edges and foot bridges found in fantasy illustrations of the picturesque. A footbridge and cutting was also created for Bird Cage Walk where it runs through Park Slopes.

6.3.1 Library, Museum & Art Gallery (Touchstone)

Touchstones was opened as an Arts and Heritage Centre in 2002, reinvigorating the area and its surroundings. It is made up of three picturesque buildings, all listed Grade II. The library (now museum and local studies) was designed by Jesse Horsfall in 1883 in a free-Elizabethan style, after the original library in the Town Hall was damaged by the fire that destroyed the clock tower. The council decided to construct a new library on The Esplanade; Touchstones. The building today is Grade II Listed and in the same Gothic style as the Town Hall. The Museum and Art gallery were added in 1903 and 1912, again by Horsfall, and an angled extension that addressed Manchester Road was built in 1913. The six sculpted panels representing Art, Science & Literature were carved by. J. J. Millson and are particularly attractive.

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6.4 Park Slopes 6.4.1 The Broadfield Hotel

The hotel was built in 1904 as a residence for the District Nurses. It is on the site of the former Rochdale Grammar School.

6.4.2 Statue of John Bright

The statue of John Bright by Hamo Thorneycroft was moved from the Town Hall Square to this position in Broadfield Park. John Brigth was a local mill owner and MP for Birmingham, most famously remembered in Rochdale for his campaigning for the repeal of the Corn Laws.

7. CENTOTAPH & MEMORIAL GARDENS

7.1 Cenotaph & Post Office

Opposite the Town Hall, north of the river, Dearden’s ‘Manor House’ was redeveloped in 1922 by Sir Edwin Lutyens as a cenotaph (listed grade II) and garden formally set between two large buildings. The first of the classical buildings became the Post Office (listed grade II) completed in 1927. The second of the two white classical buildings framing the Cenotaph has yet to be built; but the site has been faithfully retained for 90 years. The 32ft tall cenotaph was unveiled by The Earl of Derby. Lutyen’s pale Cornish grey granite, white Portland stone and classical symmetry formed a brave counterpoint to Crossland’s dark asymmetric, romantic scheme.

7.2 Memorial Gardens

The first formal garden was laid out as a memorial to the Great War - a symmetrical design on-axis to the entrance of the Town Hall. After the Second World War, the memorial garden was extended northwards to create the 1939-45 Gardens of Remembrance; a sunken Italian garden that creates a shaft of space framing the Town Hall when viewed from the north.

7.3 Police Station & Magistrates Court The 1970s Police Station, Magistrates Courts and Newgate House frame the

Gardens and maintain the white limestone theme.

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BIBLIOGAPHY Dixon, K. H. 2004. Top o’th’ Steps, A History of St Chad’s Parish Church, Rochdale. Rochdale: St Chad’s Educational Trust. Kershaw, H. Unknown date. Over my Shoulder: a Backward Glace Over the Year’s of Rochdale’s Proud History from the Late 18th Century to the Present Day. Pevsner, N. 1969. The Buildings of England, South Lancashire. London: Penguin Books. Rochdale Civic Trust. Unknown date. Rochdale in Focus. Rochdale: Rochdale Civic Trust. Royal Bank of Scotland. 1994. 1819-1994 175 years of banking in Rochdale. Rochdale: RBS Touchstone. 2006. Rochdale Heritage Trail. Rochdale MBC and Rochdale Local Studies. Whitworth, G.T. 2009. ‘Bobbins’ A Short History of Textile Industry in Rochdale. Littleborough: George Kelsall. In addition to the above, numerous texts by John Cole, some published online by the Local Studies Service, have been used in the study of the history of Rochdale.

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APPENDIX: TIMELINE Rochdale Town Centre Conservation Area Timeline

1000 - Ruins of a Saxon castle stood on Castle Hill. 1178 - Lord of the manor John de Lascy founded the monastery at Stanlawe and endowed it with lands in this district. 1253 - Henry III granted to the knights of St John of Jerusalem the right to try thieves, hold an assize of bread and ale, and erect a gallows within their lands in Butterworth. 1289 - Stanlawe Abbey translated to Whalley Abbey. 1340 - Subsidy level on the parish to enable the king to carry on the war with France. 1350 - Woollen trade introduced around this date. 1380 - Pool Tax levied on persons over 15 years of age living in the parish. 1514 - Ale was twopence per gallon. 1519 - Sir John Byron appointed steward of the manor by Henry VIII. 1529 - Whitworth Chapelry founded. 1537 - Whalley Abbey, which held large possessions in the parish, is dissolved. 1547 - Archbishop of Canterbury became patron of St Chad's. 1565 - Grammar School founded by Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker. 1574 - Alex Barlow, married to Elizabeth Belfield Clegg at the age of four years, on arriving at the age of discretion refused to ratify the marriage and obtained a divorce. 1582 - Parish registers began at St Chad's. 1600 - Packer Street was the town's business street; Yorkshire Street was called the High Street. 1608 - Cattle fair began to be held three times a year. 1610 - Inquiry held to define the boundaries of the parish. 1615 - Henry Tilson became vicar, the only vicar of the parish who went on to become a bishop, being raised to the See of Elphin in 1639. 1623 - Sweating sickness visited the parish, 587 burials took place in the graveyard. 1626 - Survey of the manor made. 1631 - Richard Entwistle of Foxholes and Jordan Chadwick of Healey Hall fined £10 each for refusing the order of knighthood. 1638 - Sir Richard Byron purchased the manor. 1642 - Captain James Schofield of Schofield Hall commanded a parliamentary force in defence of Bolton; Over 2,100 men in the parish sign protestation to maintain the Established Religion and protect the King; Garrison of 1,200 men placed in the town and 800 more on Blackstone Edge during the civil War. 1651 - Lord Byron declared a rebel by Parliament. He could expect no pardon. 1662 - Vicar Robert Bath ejected for declining to conform. 1665 - Local death rate greatly increased due to the great plague.

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1675 - Alexander Butterworth of Belfield was High Sheriff of Lancashire. 1678 - Collections made in the parish towards rebuilding St Paul's Cathedral. 1690 - Ralph Webb, parish clerk for 60 years, and who in his time buried 1,100 people. 1691 - The Flying Horse, Packer Street, opened at this time. 1692 - Brearley's charity for the poor of Spotland formed. 1694 - Pool Tax for carrying on a vigorous war against France collected in the parish. 1698 - Hallfold Chapel founded. 1700 - Population estimated at 8,000 1712 - Gartside charity founded with funds of over £5,400. 1719 - Castleton Hall built. 1724 - Daniel Defoe went over Blackstone Edge in a snowstorm. 1731 - Act of Parliament passed to outlaw stealing of flannel pieces while in the fields to whiten and dry. 1740 - Taylor's Charity School for teaching poor children founded. 1746 - Riot arising out of Stuart Rebellion took place at the Roebuck Inn. 1754 - Road leading from Rochdale to Manchester turnpiked. 1760 - First town reservoir constructed at Leyland Brow. 1772 - Book 'Human Passions Delineated' by Tim Bobbin is published 1773 - Edmund Tattersall transported for life after committing sacrilege at St Chad's Church. 1777 - Coach to London commenced running. Journey took five days. 1784 - Methodist Sunday School opened. 1785 - Strike in the fustian trade. 1786 - Tim Bobbin died. 1787 - First steam engine in the district built at a colliery in Smallbridge. 1788 - Lord Byron, poet and Baron of Rochdale, was born. 1789 - Kenion's charity for apprenticing poor boys and girls to trades was founded. 1790 - High Flyer, first local stagecoach, began running to Manchester. 1791 - Hanging Lane Mill, first steam-powered mill, became a major attraction with its tall chimney regularly belching out huge plumes of smoke. 1792 - Cloth Hall built by public subscription to be an exchange for local woollen traders. 1793 - Theatre opened in Toad Lane; Discovery at Tunshill of the right arm and hand of a silver statue of Victory and several Roman coins. 1794 - 33-mile-long Rochdale Canal from Castlefield, Manchester, to Sowerby Bridge approved. 1797 - Road leading from Rochdale to Bury turnpiked. 1798 - Milnrow Church rebuilt. 1800 - Hollingworth Lake and Whiteholme Reservoir constructed to feed water into Rochdale Canal. 1804 - Roman brass coins unearthed at Underwood. 1808 - Military called in to deal with serious woollen trade dispute called the Shuttle Gathering. 1810 - Drake Street, named after the then-vicar, opened at this time;

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Eighty licensed premises existed in the town. 1811 - John Bright born; Lord Byron paid a visit to the town. 1815 - Well-known radical Thomas Livesey born. 1817 - Edwin Waugh born. 1818 - Rochdale Savings Bank opened. 1819 - Rochdalian Miles Ashworth sailed to St Helena as one of the guard with Napoleon. 1822 - Stocks near St Chad's Church used for punishing delinquents for the last time. 1823 - Lord Byron sold the manor to James Dearden. 1824 - Market Hall opened at a cost of £30,000. 1826 - Rochdale Races fully established. 1829 - Ten people killed at disturbance caused by woollen weavers protesting at the introduction of power looms. 1832 - Rochdale became a parliamentary borough, and John Fenton declared its first MP. 1834 - Rochdale MP John Fenton seriously criticised for supporting Poor Law. 1835 - Fish caught in the River Roch for the last time. 1838 - Anti-Corn Law Association formed, with John Bright a member of the provisional committee. 1840 - Branch of the Anti-Corn Law League formed. 1843 - John Bright elected MP for Durham after earlier election declared void due to bribery. 1846 - Petition for repeal of the corn laws, signed by 8,000 people, presented to Parliament; Original Rochdale Grammar School building in School Lane pulled down. 1847 - New grammar school built at Sparrow Hill. 1849 - Rochdale Savings Bank fails leaving liabilities of £100,403; Pioneers' Society start their education department. 1850 - Milnrow Pioneers Society formed with premises in Kiln Lane; Rochdale Freeholders Society formed to help more people get the right to vote. 1851 - Strike in the iron trade which lasted six months; Yeomanry cavalry troop paraded in The Butts and marched to Worsley where they formed a guard of honour for the Queen with their regiment. 1852 - Woollen traders Kelsall and Bartlemere gave financial assistance to their employees who lost money in a bank failure. 1853 - John Bright presented with a library of 12,000 books worth £5,048, 8 shillings and one penny. 1854 - Whitworth and Rochdale Agricultural Show first held. 1855 - Cemetery in Bury Road opened with 10,000 people in attendance; YMCA formed in the town. 1856 - Rochdale Observer first published; Charter of Rochdale Corporation received and election of 30 councillors in three wards; Thomas Livsey told a government select committee that Rochdale paid Liverpool £4,100 in import and export duties. 1857 - Former governor of Hungary Louis Kossuth lectured in the public hall; Meeting in the town adopted a resolution in favour of manhood

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suffrage, secret ballots, triennial parliaments and re-distribution of seats. 1858 - Old Town Hall was demolished; Last internment inside Parish Church took place. 1859 - Richard Cobden elected MP for the borough; General Tom Thumb appeared in the public hall; Subscription Turkish Baths on School Lane opened. 1860 - Town Hall buildings erected in Lord Street; Wood Estate selected as a site for the new Town Hall. 1861 - Penny Bank opened and 615 deposits made; Census taken which showed the town contained four times as many people as some boroughs returning two MPs to Parliament. 1862 - Relief Committee formed to meet the distress owing to the American war. 1863 - People's Hall, Blackwater Street, opened; 8,359 people estimated to be out of work because of American Civil War. 1864 - Richard Cobden MP gave his last speech in the town in front of

4,000 people. Competition for Town Hall. W.H. Crossland appointed 1865 - Riot at Conservative meeting in the Public Hall; Richard Cobden died; Jeffrey's Music Hall opened in Drake Street. 1867 - Torchlight procession with 10,000 people on Cronkeyshaw Common to protest against the Reform Bill; Town only borough to have a circular boundary. 1868 - Building society boom with about 20 societies in existence; John Bright received by the Queen on becoming President of the Board of

Trade and sworn in as a Privy Councillor. River Roch parapets and wall completed 1869 - Infirmary scheme proposed at a meeting in the town, where those present promised to give £3,550 to the scheme; Government inquiry into

solving problems of river pollution held in the town. Trinity United Presbyterian Church completed. 1870 - Observer Buildings opened in Drake Street; Post Office moved from South Parade to corner of Nelson Street and Drake Street; Pioneers

Central Newsroom opened. Saint Chad’s Church enlargement begun by W. H. Crossland. 1871 - Bank Holiday first observed in the town; US President Abraham Lincoln's gold-headed staff was bequeathed by US Consul Dr Smith to John Bright in accordance with the president's wishes; Infirmary and

dispensary moved from Lord Street to Elliott Street. Town Hall completed. Town Hall Square and Esplanade etc. begun. 1872 - W. H. Crossland enlarges tower etc. of Saint Chad’s Church. Clock removed from St Chad's Church tower; The Esplanade received its name on suggestion of Alderman Taylor. 1873 - Highway from Rochdale to Hailfax dis-turnpiked; 1874 - Broadfield Park first opened to the public 1875 - Book 'Rochdale Past and Present' published by Robertson. 1876 - Jacob Bright elected MP for Manchester; Last horse fair held in Cheetham Street. 1877 - Dearnley Workhouse opened at a cost of £85,000; Omnibus begins to run daily between Rochdale and Littleborough; Cattle

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Fairground opens on Theatre Street. 1878 - Fenton's Bank stopped payment. Statue to G. L. Ashworth by W. J. & T. Wills erected. 1880 - 'Bibliography of Rochdale' by lieutenant-Colonel Fishwick published. 1881 - Royds Bank, founded by famous Rochdale family, amalgamated with the Manchester and Salford Bank; Smallpox epidemic began which caused 101 deaths. 1882 - Tramways construction began with Alderman Tweedale removing two paving stones at the junction of Oldham Road and Drake Street; Announcement that an infirmary was to be given to the town. 1883 - Clock Tower destroyed by fire. Infirmary formally opened.

Building work started on the public library by J. Horsfall. 1884 - Public library opens. Rochdale Cattle Market Ground first opened for fair purposes. 1885 - Saint Chad’s Church further enlarged by J. S. Crowther. Building work began on Waterhouse designed Town Hall Clock Tower. New St. Chad's Church opened; Tramway to Oldham opened. 1886 - Drinking fountain and pillar lamp opposite Wellington Hotel, presented to the town by the Pioneers Society, demolished by a run-away horse. 1887 - Richard Street Mill demolished; 16,000 people attend first Infirmary Gala at Foxholes; Tramways winding up order presented to

court with company owing £16,000; Clock Tower completed and clock begins to register time. 1889 - Earthquake shock felt in different parts of the town; John Bright dies aged 77; Rochdale becomes a county borough; Rochdale's new railway station opened. 1891 - Statue of John Bright by Hamo Thorneycroft erected in Town Hall Square. The census showed the town had 71,401 inhabitants; Influenza epidemic affected 1,000 people and death rate doubled; 1892 - Tim Bobbin Memorial unveiled at St Chad's Churchyard; a survey showed 29 licenced houses within a 200-yard radius of the Duke of Wellington, Blackwater Street; James Cryer appointed first working-class man magistrate.

1893 - Bandstand erected in Broadfield Park 1894 - Mortuary opened behind the town hall; Jacob Bright MP chosen as a privy councillor; Sir Charles Halle's last appearance in the town, accompanied by his wife he gave a recital in the town hall.

1896 - Victoria Bridge erected over Bird Cage Walk on Park Slopes 1897 - First motor car passed through the town; St Aidan's Church opened. 1900 - Dialect Writers Memorial by E. Sykes erected on Park Slopes. Reports come in that 33 Rochdale men are among the missing, killed and wounded in action at Spion Kop in the Boer War. 1901 - War medals presented to Rochdale volunteers who served in the Boer War; Salvation Army founder General William Booth visits Rochdale. 1903 - Art Gallery and Museum by J. Horsfall added to the Library. Animated pictures shown at Rochdale's first cinema.

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1904 - River Roch covered over in the Butts/South Parade area. Announced that Rochdale's identification plate for motor cars is DK, reported that nine motors an eight motor-cycles had been registered and 23 people had applied for driving licences; Colonel William Cody, aka Buffalo Bill, visits Rochdale. 1905 - Rochdale Pioneers Society decided to close down a dozen of its newsrooms; Eminent author George Bernard Shaw speaks at the Public Hall; Postcard craze causes chaos at post office. 1906 - The new Maclure Road opened to traffic. 1907 - Co-operative Jubilee Drinking Fountain erected in Broadfield Park. Countess Romanoff, cousin of the Czar of Russia, appeared at the Empire Hall; Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst opens women's club in Rochdale. 1908 - Opening performance at the new Hippdrome Theatre. May 27th The new name of Wet Rake for the plot of land formally known as Halsteads Foundry decided upon. Park Slopes altered, Angel Fountain and West Entrance created – approximate date. 1909 - Labour MP Ramsay Macdonald lectured in Pioneers' Assembly Room. 1910 - Newgate constructed off The Esplanade to cater for trams. River Roch covered between Yorkshire Street and Newgate. The Labour Exchange, Moore Street, opened for the registration of unemployed. 1911 - Announced that postal authorities were in negotiation for site on the corner of The Esplanade and Newgate; First police dog arrives at Town Hall. 1912 - Rochdale Cattle Market closed due to cattle plague; Boy Scouts founder Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Baden-Powell addressed meeting at the Town Hall; Pavilion Picture Palace opened, the first hall in Rochdale built expressly as a picture hall. 1913 - Boer War hero Sir George Kemp created a baron; Alderman

Samuel Turner presented an organ to the Town Hall. Art Gallery extended by P. W. Hathaway, carvings J. J. Milson. 1914 - Rochdale Territorials embark for overseas as World War One starts. 1915 - Rochdale Territorials' first battle in the Dardanelles; Diptheria epidemic causes several deaths. 1916 - A German field gun, captured at Loos, arrived in Rochdale; Strict lighting restrictions brought into force. 1917 - Chief Constable Leonard Barry summoned himself for a breach of the lighting order; Ramsay Macdonald MP addressed meeting at the Pioneers Hall on trade unionism after the war; Resolution to prohibit alcoholic liquors during the war and for six months afterwards was passed at meeting at Rochdale Town Hall. 1918 - Halle Orchestra gave first concert at the Town Hall for nearly 40 years. 1921 - Rochdale sees an eclipse of the sun; Lord Derby distributed war medals won by members of the Rochdale Territorial battalion. 1922 - Communists raided the Observer office and broke a plate glass

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window, their leader was bound over for 12 months; The Pioneers Society closed the Central Library in Toad Lane; Nearly 10,000 people

attend a 'no more war' demonstration at Rochdale Town Hall. Cenotaph and garden by Edwin Lutyens. 1923 - King George V passed through Rochdale on his way to Goldsborough in Yorkshire; Archbishop of York, Dr Lang, preaches at the Parish Church; Prime Minister David Lloyd George addresses meeting in

Rochdale Town Hall. River Roch covered over from Newgate to the Police Station. 1925 - Co-operative Society's strike, Pioneers affected but not the Provident Society; Champness Hall opened with a series of successful meetings and services; Opening of John Bright Memorial Room at the art

gallery. St. Chad’s Gardens laid out – approximate date. 1926 - River Roch covered eastwards from the Butts to Smith Street. Memorial Cross, erected in Rochdale Cemetery by the Imperial War Graves Commission, unveiled and dedicated. 1927 - Post Office, one half of the Lutyens plan completed. Observer moves to new offices and printing works. 1928 - Gracie Fields appears at opening of Rialto Cinema. 1929 - Lady Astor MP speaks at meetings at Rialto Cinema and Territorial Drill Hall; Politician Stanley Baldwin addressed 15,000 people at meeting in Town Hall Square, Rochdale.

1933 - “Maybury Plan” built a traffic island and bus station on Town Hall Square 1934 - John Bright Statue removed from Town Hall Square 1934 - Central Corn Mill demolished and Packer Spout Gardens created 1950 - Memorial Gardens created 1997 - Sculpture by Jeremy Waygood 2003 - Touchstones Art Gallery and Local Studies centre opens √ 2007 - Park Slopes & Broadfield Park restored through Heritage Lottery Fund