Walsall Town Hall

Walsall Town Hall is located at Leicester Street in Walsall, England. The building, which opened in 1903, is used for a variety of functions including wedding receptions and concerts.[1] It was designated a grade II listed building in 1986.[2]

Walsall Town Hall
The main entrance in 2008
General information
TypeTown Hall
Architectural styleBaroque
Classification
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated31 July 1986
Reference no.1076367
AddressLichfield Street
Town or cityWalsall
CountryWalsall, England
Coordinates52.5856°N 1.9805°W / 52.5856; -1.9805
Opened1903 (1903)
OwnerWalsall Metropolitan Borough Council
Design and construction
ArchitectJames Glen Sivewright Gibson
DesignationsGrade II listed

History

The town hall's Baroque style design is by the architect James Glen Sivewright Gibson.[2][3] It has a facade of sandstone ashlar[2] and adjoins Walsall Council House.[2] The design for the entrance includes a round archway with three Tuscan order columns, an architrave and a tympanum above.[2] The building opened in 1903.[2]

The pipe organ, which commemorates the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria,[4] was made by the local firm of Nicholson & Lord and installed in 1908.[5] It was designed with 98 stops, five keyboards and 3,300 pipes.[5][4] The organist, Harold Britton, recorded a concert entitled "Organ Extravaganza" on the ASV label on the organ in 1991.[6] An episode from series 20 of the BBC programme Antiques Roadshow was filmed in the hall in November 1997.[7]

Rock bands that performed at the Walsall Town Hall in the 1960s and 1970s include Slade, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.[8] The heavy metal band, Jameson Raid, performed in the hall in 1980[9] and the rock band Reverend and The Makers performed there in 2012.[5]

In the theatre are a matched pair of pictures by Frank O. Salisbury. They were commissioned by the former local member of parliament, Joseph Leckie, "to commemorate the never to be forgotten valour of the South Staffordshire Regiments in the Great War 1914 - 1918" and completed in 1920.[10] One shows "the First South Staffordshires attacking the Hohenzollern Redoubt", the other "the 5th South Staffords storming the St. Quentin Canal at Bellingtise Sept 29th 1918".[10]

Also inside the building are a memorial to organist and composer Charles Swinnerton Heap, sculpted by Albert Toft, and a 2009 memorial plaque to Walsall's three recipients of the Victoria Cross, John Henry Carless, James Thompson and Charles George Bonner.[11]

References
  1. "Town Halls". Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council. 24 July 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  2. Historic England. "Town Hall, Walsall (1076367)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  3. "James Glen Sivewright Gibson". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  4. "An historic guide through Walsall's Town Hall". Walsall Council. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  5. "Walsall Town Hall set for £1m revamp". Express and Star. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  6. "Organ First Magazine" (PDF). Organs.uk. 1 May 2005. p. 22. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  7. "Antiques Roadshow". BBC. 23 November 1997. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  8. "Raising the musical roof in Walsall". Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  9. "Jameson Raid - The beginning of Part II". HR Records. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  10. Mabbett, Andy (2002). "War memorials". Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  11. Lloyd, Matt (30 December 2009). "Black Country Victoria Cross winners are honoured". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
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