West Bromwich Town Hall
Encyclopedia
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, England. It is part of the Walk West Bromwich Heritage Trail.
The West Bromwich Town Improvement Commissioners (1854-1882) purchased prime land, previously part of West Bromwich Heath, from the rich Izon family, for the erection of public buildings including the Town Hall.
The Town Hall, situated in the centre of High Street, was built between 1874 and 1875 in brick and stone to an Italian Gothic design
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
of the architects Alexander & Henman of Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...
, Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
and the building contractors were Trow & Sons of Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
.
At the main entrance of the Town Hall is a triplet of arches supported by stone columns with carved capitals, which are decorated with medieval carved heads representing the twelve months of the year. A flight of stone steps lead up from the High Street into a wide corridor which encircles the main hall.
The interior of the Town Hall reflects the Victorian interest in Gothic and Medieval architecture. The ceilings, the iron work, the walls and pillars have been decorated from designs by the architects and the "harmonious blending of colours, and the magnificent stencil work costing many days of artistic and patient labour, cannot be too highly praised and words can hardly express the charming effect they have produced."
(West Bromwich Weekly News, August 1875)
The wall of the main staircase leading from the corridor to the balcony has a large stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
window with a centre panel containing the design of the crest and motto of the West Bromwich Town Improvement Commissioners. The main tower is 40 metres tall.
The balcony in the main hall overlooks the fine maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
floor of the ballroom
Ballroom
A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...
, which leads up to the stage at the far end of the hall. Unique semi-circular cast-iron principals in the roof dominate the stage and form a setting for The Grand Organ.
The Grand Organ was a gift from Alexander Brogden
Alexander Brogden
Alexander Brogden was born in Manchester on 3 November 1825, the second son of John Brogden and educated at Blackburn, New College Manchester and King's College London, where he read mathematics. He married Anne Garstang on 6 September 1848 at Manchester Cathedral. He joined his father’s...
, MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Wednesbury, in 1878. It was built by Forster and Andrews
Forster and Andrews
Forster and Andrews was formed by James Alderson Forster and Joseph King Andrews , who had been employees of the London organ builder J. C. Bishop.They opened the business that bore their name in Hull in 1843...
of Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
following the International Exhibition of 1862 and is one of twelve organs built for town halls up and down the country by the firm. In May 1997 the organ was awarded a certificate by the British Institute of Organ Studies
British Institute of Organ Studies
-Aims:The aims of BIOS are* To promote objective, scholarly research into the history of the organ and its music in all its aspects, and, in particular, into the organ and its music in Britain....
(BIOS) as it was considered to be of historic importance for its musical and technical qualities. It was recorded as historic in the National Pipe-Organ Register at Cambridge University.