City Hall clock inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence

This year City Hall is 150 years old. As part of the anniversary celebrations, I have written a book - fully illustrated - describing the architecture and history of City Hall, which hopefully will encourage people to visit the building for themselves.

A Grade I listed building, mainly medieval Gothic in style, and built out of local Gaisby sandstone City Hall, as the Bradford Observer remarked at its opening in September 1873, is 'a civic palace worthy of any city in Britain or on the continent'.

The most dominant feature of City Hall - Bradford Town Hall was renamed City Hall in 1965 in recognition of the city’s importance - is its campanile Italianate style clock tower. At 217 ft high, with its bells ringing every 15 minutes and chiming every hour, it was inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall in Florence, Italy.

The tapered end of City Hall from Sunbridge Road

No town hall is complete without its bells. Bradford Town Hall has a 13-bell carillon, one of only three carillons in England at the time. The largest bell is Big Tom, also known as Matthew William - named after the mayor at that time Matthew William Thompson- and weighs four tonnes.

The first town hall in Bradford was in the Old Fire Station on Swaine Street, an alleyway linking Market St and Hall Ings, now demolished. As the town grew in size, and civic duties increased, inevitably a new town hall was needed.

But civic pride was an important factor as well as a necessity. Leeds and Halifax had built impressive town halls, in 1858 and 1863, respectively, Bradford couldn’t be outdone.

A national competition was held for a suitable design. The winners were the famous Bradford architects Lockwood & Mawson, designers of St George's Hall, the Wool Exchange and Titus Salt's Mill and model village of Saltaire.

Lockwood & Mawson submitted two designs, one classical the other gothic – the Gothic design which won is, as we can see today, a truly magnificent piece of work.

The brand civic staircase

The building contract was given to John Ives & Son of Shipley. In 1869, work on a new town hall began and was completed four years later. The final cost was £100,000 and £4,000 for the land. On September 9, 1873, the new town hall was officially opened by the aforementioned Mayor Matthew Thompson.

Bradford City Hall is unique in having a series of statues - 35 in total - of kings and Queens of England from William the Conqueror to Queen Victoria. These statues, all of them lifelike and seven feet tall, are placed in niches on the second-floor exterior wall. They were made from stone from the local Cliffe Wood quarries and cost £63 each.

The most controversial statue is that of Oliver Cromwell, who was not a king but governed England as Lord Protector from 1653-1658.

Due to his brutal policy in Ireland, Cromwell was hated by the Irish.

As the story goes, the Irish labourers employed to work on the town hall refused to hoist Cromwell’s statue into its appointed place.

Two 'accidents' occurred and the statue fell and was broken. To overcome this problem the Irish workers were given a day off and in their absence, non-Irish workers hoisted the statue of Cromwell into position.

The statue of Oliver Cromwell was the subject of discord

In 1897, when Bradford became a city it was realised that the town hall of 1873, was too small for the council to fulfill its duties

An extension was built between 1909-1914 costing £100,000, providing a council chamber which, with its magnificent domed roof and pillars made from Italian Cipollino marble, is where, today, full council meetings are held.

The Council Chamber

An overhead view of the Council Chamber

A banqueting hall was also added where most civic functions take place. Medieval in style, there are huge oriel windows behind gothic arches, high oak panelling and a magnificent frieze representing the textile trade which made Bradford 'Worstedopolis', the textile capital of the world.

Other sections of interest include the Lord Mayor's Rooms, the Civic Suite where official guests are greeted and the magnificent civic staircase, the steps of which are made of baroque marble and local sandstone from Bell Dean Quarry at Jericho, near Thornton.

Originally Bradford Town Hall had law courts, a police station and police cells. The main Crown Court is now refurbished and restored to its original Victorian grandeur.

The Victorian Court Room

Like dungeons in other old buildings, the cells at City Hall have their tales of ghosts. Sightings are claimed of Chains Charlie a notorious Bradford burglar who was tortured in one of the cells. The sobbing of a young girl Bertha, who, destitute and hungry, was kept in custody for stealing a bottle of milk, have also been heard.

The police station and cells have been refurbished and transformed into a police museum.

Simon Ross Valentine with his book

City Hall has had a significant place on TV and in the film industry. The Victorian courtroom was used in the trial of Tracy Barlow in Coronation Street in 2007. On many occasions, City Hall has been used in Emmerdale.

The elegant rooms of City Hall have appeared in other TV programs such as Band of Gold (1995) and more recently in the period crime drama Peaky Blinders

City Hall has appeared in many Hollywood films such as

Room at the Top (1959) starring Laurence Harvey and the sequel Life at the Top (1965).

More recently City Hall has been used in films such as the First World War romance Testament of Youth, the comedy Blow Dry and the political thriller Official Secrets. In the film Dark Eden, a stuntman jumps 200 feet from the top of the Clock Tower.

The Clock Tower from Norfolk Gardens

Since the millennium, City Hall has become a significant tourist attraction. In 1997 Centenary Square was created, and later cafes and shops were added, and a large screen shows news 24/7.

The centre piece is Mirror Pool with its numerous fountains, the main one reaching over a hundred feet, and a high-tech lighting system.

This beautiful historic building still serves as the seat of local democracy where the elected council make decisions which affect our daily lives.

*Bradford City Hall: 150 Years of Civic Pride by Simon Ross Valentine, is published by Bradford Council, priced £9.99. It can be obtained at bookstores and local council outlets.