Future in the past

Artist Barry Sheridan came to live in Calderdale from Salford in 1975 and he immediately took the town to his heart because of its architecture and its history which spans the centuries.

He says: “The story of Halifax, the Piece Hall and Calderdale is unique because it represents the whole development of the industrial revolution.”

Back in 1975, when Barry first caught sight of the town, Halifax was an affordable place to live because of its relative remoteness from the rest of the county. He said: “The Calder Valley was relatively cut off. I came before the M62 was fully opened. It was a backwater and a number of people came into this area during the late 70s and 80s because it was a nice place to live.”

Halifax’s mix of period architecture instantly appealed to him, as an artist who taught fine art and associated art disciplines at college.

“Halifax is a beautiful town centre. We have some stunning Georgian buildings, the Piece Hall being the epitomy of it. Borough market is a classic Victorian cast iron covered market, the town hall is a stunning piece of Victorian architecture. Halifax has these gems but there is a vibrancy about it. Today the creative economy in the Calder Valley is bubbling away.”

Today a portion of the creative economy to which Barry refers is evident within the 20-plus businesses surrounding Piece Hall. Intricate handbags created from chocolate; stamps from around the globe, clothing, crafts, comics and collectors shops trade around rooms along the balconies.

Throughout the year people mill around the cobbled yard, the stage at the heart of this unique visitor attraction, is reserved for entertainment. On a balmy summer’s day benches and tables throng with people taking lunch or simply sitting and absorbing the historical landmark surrounding them.

The Piece Hall is a curious place, not least because of its sloping position. The architect, Thomas Bradley, whose previous work included the red square chapel near to Talbot Close, had to tackle a range of complicating factors in his design due to the irregular quadrilateral and the land sloping in two directions from West to East and from North West to South East. After considering ellipses and circular developments, he settled on sacrificing a small corner plot, creating a rectangular building accommodating the fall of the land while retaining a regular roof line. Cleverly, this enabled two floors at the top of the slope and three levels at the bottom.

In its heyday this place was one of the main cloth trading centres in the West Riding. Behind the doors where today’s traders sell their quirky stock and collectibles, merchants once brokered deals for pieces of cloth.

Interestingly, the reason why the Piece Hall is windowless from the outside was for security. The value of cloth was so high it was a valuable commodity so woe betide those who stole it.

“For stealing a piece of cloth you could be beheaded,” explains Barry. “Halifax had a gibbet. Up to the mid-1600s more than 60 people were executed for theft and that was because the value of cloth was so high it was considered to be a major crime. Gibbet Street still exists in Halifax and in the museum’s collection we have the original blade from the gibbet.”

Originally an open field, the Piece Hall was built by subscription for £9,692.00s.11 and a half ‘d’. It opened on January 1, 1779.

Barry explains the Piece Hall was the last of the cloth halls to be built in the West Riding. “It is the scale of ambition which is light years ahead of the others. This was the biggest, the best and the last,” says Barry.

The landmark endured a chequered life following the textile industry’s demise. Before the courtyard was cobbled in 1871, sheep would graze on the central grassed area. Some of the early balloon flights took off from here and in the 19th century open-air hustings for elections, and agricultural shows were part of the life within the Piece Hall.

By 1867 it was struggling to survive and ownership transferred to the Halifax Corporation who were instrumental in creating a fruit, veg, game and fish market.

In later years, considerations were given to providing an open-air swimming pool or affordable housing for the unemployed. In the 1970s demolition was contemplated to pave the way for a shopping centre and car park but at a council meeting in 1972 to decide its fate the Piece Hall was saved.

Under the local council’s ownership, the building was converted and re-opened for public use in 1976.

Barry explains the current format is similar to when it initially opened as a centre for small specialist traders following the original restoration.

Conscious Halifax’s landmark is not achieving its full potential, the project director of the Piece Hall’s multi-million pound transformation is intent on turning it into a spectacular tourist attraction. That is Barry’s big ambition and one he hopes, with an injection of Heritage Lottery cash, will eventually come to fruition.

It is some years away. The submission of an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund is the first phase. The preparation of a detailed plan to turn the Piece Hall into a more functional space with a town square, refurbished retail spaces, bars and restaurants, and to upgrade the infrastructure and services, will hopefully attract funding to turn it into reality.

“It is really unique. There is nothing like it which has survived. There are cloth halls but nothing built on this scale so we have got something here which is really precious,” says Barry.

The Piece Hall’s Grade I listing symbolises its architectural and historical importance. “But it is, sadly, an unknown gem,” says Barry. “To many people it is well-known locally and people are proud of it but we have visitors from outside the immediate region and what we believe is if anybody is coming to Yorkshire for a holiday or a trip we want people to know that no visit to Yorkshire is complete without a visit to the Piece Hall.”

Barry says they need a radical plan for the Piece Hall to become a tourist attraction. “The building is important architecturally. It is one of the best Georgian buildings in Britain, it is a piece of Italy that has been created in the middle of the West Riding and it is certainly one of the most important. And it’s also central to the story of this whole area, particularly to Halifax but also to West Yorkshire.”

The provision of a town square similar to those found in European cities will portray the diversity of Halifax as it is today.

Before the 1960s Halifax folk were born and brought up here. Today the population is more diverse. “The council’s motto is ‘everybody different, everybody matters’ and I think that’s right,” says Barry.

Percy Shaw is one of the town’s famous inhabitants. Percy was, of course, the inventor of the famous Catseye – the ubiquitous reflective lens markers used on roads throughout the world – said to have been inspired after he saw headlights reflected in a cat’s eye.

Wilfred Pickles, the famous radio broadcaster and game show inventor, was also born here. Percy and Wilfred are among the town’s famous sons and daughters mentioned in ‘Halifax’ – the definitive history of the town published in 1999 and re-issued in 2003.

The book was written by retired teacher Dr John Hargreaves, who became fascinated with Halifax’s history after coming to live here in the 70s when his wife came to train as a midwife at Halifax General Hospital. “We came here to find accommodation and loved the area and stayed,” says Dr Hargreaves.

He is chairman of the Halifax Civic Trust, a member of the Halifax Antiquarian Society and is also involved in the Town Team Urban Renaissance, a forum set up to shape the future development of the town.

Halifax, like most areas, is accustomed to changing with the times. The demise of the textile industry was probably the greatest blow to its economy. The town made its wealth from wool. But carpets and confectionery also contributed to Halifax’s economy.

Axminsters, probably the most prestigious floor coverings, were manufactured at Crossleys, once the largest carpet manufacturer in the world. The landmark mill – Dean Clough – stretching towards the Hebble Valley is now a mix of enterprise, industry and creative art space converted into its current format by a consortium including the entrepreneur and musician Sir Ernest Hall.

Halifax’s ‘Toffee Town’ title came from the Mackintosh family’s sweet success. United Biscuits, Riley’s toffee rolls and the Club biscuit were all created here.

Engineering and, of course, the financial services have all contributed to the town’s wealth over the years.

Halifax was the original home of the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society and the Halifax Equitable Benefit Building Society. In 1928 they merged to form the Halifax Building Society and in February 1997 the company became a Plc.

In 2001, the Halifax merged with the Bank of Scotland. The new bank, HBOS plc, became the fifth largest financial services company in the UK. Its retail division is based in the Trinity Road headquarters and the Halifax is still prevalent on the high street.

The town has a strong sporting heritage too. FC Halifax Town and Halifax RLFC play at the Shay stadium. Amateur dramatics is another established tradition. “There are lots of clubs and societies in the town and there is a strong sense of community,” says Dr Hargreaves.

Chatting with folk who have lived here for many years I discover it’s a pretty versatile town. “It’s got everything. It has lovely old buildings, cheerful people who are nice and neighbourly,” says Maria Fabrizi. The archaeologist turned professional philatelist trades from a small emporium within the Piece Hall where collectors can source stamps from most countries throughout the globe.

It is hoped the restoration of the Piece Hall will encourage inhabitants from other parts of the world to find out more about Halifax. The town’s future success depends very much on its ability to attract tourism.

The grand plan for the Piece Hall will enhance the town’s other tourist attractions, the hugely popular children’s museum, Eureka, and, of course Shibden Hall. The most famous resident of this beautiful timber-framed abode, surrounded by stunning public parkland with its wonderful miniature railway, was the diarist Anne Lister.

“I believe passionately it is an amazing town. It is a spectacular location with the backdrop of Beacon Hill and it has amazing buildings from Halifax Minster – the earliest building that has survived in town – Piece Hall, the town hall, Borough market, Somerset House (an 18th century former wool merchant’s mansion believed to have been designed by the Yorkshire architect John Carr and which recently won a Georgian Society Gold award for its conversion into a café bar) and the railway station,” says Dr Hargreaves.

He says when he arrived in the town in the seventies, many of the buildings were covered in industrial grime. Stone-cleaning restored them to their original glory. “The impact of clean air has made it very attractive,” he says.

“Obviously since the 1970s there have been economic changes but it was in the 1980s when the final nail was put in the coffin, when the last roll of carpet was produced at Dean Clough. There are still some traces of carpet manufacturing but nothing like the scale that, historically, was achieved.”

The town’s economy has changed dramatically, but its landscape remains very much the same. “We have Hardcastle Crags on the Calder Valley, lots of interesting walks along the canal tow path and a town centre that many people enjoy, to come and explore whether on foot or narrow boats and we do attract a lot of visitors.”

Dr Hargreaves believes tourism is the key to the town’s future success. “It needs to develop strongly as a tourist centre and I think the Piece Hall project is the key to that. It could really put the town on the map as a major tourist destination.”