County Hall, Wakefield

History

Following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, there was a need to find a permanent meeting place for the West Riding of Yorkshire County Council. Its first meeting was held in February 1889 in Wakefield Town Hall, at the invitation of the borough council. For a permanent home the choice was between Leeds and Wakefield; much debate and correspondence resulted, in 1892, in the selection of Wakefield.

The site chosen for the new County Hall was that of Rishworth House on Bond Street, a gentleman's house of 1812 bought by the West Riding Quarter Sessions in 1878. The County Council had received Rishworth House at its creation and used it for committee rooms, offices and a residence for the Deputy Clerk.

In commissioning a new home, the County Council held an open architectural competition, instructing competitors to prefer "the style of architecture will be left to the competitors but the Queen Anne or Renaissance School of Architecture appears suited to an old town like Wakefield". The winning design was by James S. Gibson, who proposed a Gothic design. The Council Chamber was placed on an upper storey and in the centre of the building, so as to minimize noise from the street.

The interior decoration was largely designed by Henry Charles Fehr.

The contract for the building of the hall, with Messrs. Armitage and Hodgson of Leeds contained a fair wages clause and a ban on subcontracting to employees in sweated trades. New wings were added to the original building between 1912 and 1915 by George Crook of Wakefield, but in a style which matched Gibson's original design.

In 1913 a delegation from a joint committee of Middlesex County Council and the Middlesex Quarter Sessions visited Wakefield and commissioned a copy of the Council Chamber for their proposed Middlesex Guildhall. Princess Elizabeth, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited county hall during a visit to Wakefield on 27 July 1949.

In 1974 the new West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council inherited the building and used it as its headquarters until it was also abolished in 1986. The City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council acquired the building in December 1987 and implemented a major refurbishment at a cost of over £3 million. The Leader of the Council, Councillor John Pearman, unveiled a plaque to mark the acquisition of the building and its refurbishment in February 1991.

References

References

1. {{National Heritage List for England
2. "Local Government Act 1888". Legislation.gov.uk.
3. ''The West Riding County Council 1889–1974''
4. "The Origins of County Hall". Wakefield Council.
5. (1 February 2016). "Wakefield, a Regional Centre for over five hundred years". Business Wakefield Edition.
6. County Council Records, 11 January 1893; Papers ''Building of County Hall''
7. "James Glen Sivewright Gibson". Dictionary of Scottish Architects.
8. "Symbolic decoration". Wakefield Council.
9. Dawson, Paul L.. (2015). "Secret Wakefield". Amberley Publishing.
10. Middlesex County Council Committee Minutes, 1913
11. "Royal visit to Wakefield from Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in July 1949". Twixt Aire and Calder.
12. "County Hall". Wakefield Council.