Huddersfield Heritage Trail - WordPress.com

Manchester Road Castlegate Huddersfield
Heritage
Bus Station
Upperhead Row Bradford Road
DundasStreet
Railway
Albion Street High Street Market Street Fox St. Station

Imperial Arcade Cloth Hall St. Westgate 1
New Street 2
Ramsden St 4 Northumberland Street 17
6l 7 5 3New Street John William Street 16
8Victoria Lane 15
14
Qu Cross Chuch St 13Byram Street eds Road
King Street 11
10Queen Streeteensgate Kirkgate
9 Lord Street

12

Le

1 - St George’s Square 9 - The Riding School Huddersfield Local
2 - Estate Buildings 10 - Lawrence Batley Theatre History Society
3 - Market Place 11 - Parish Church
4 - Brick Buildings 12 - Beast Market A town centre trail
5 - F ormer Temperance 13 - Byram Street
14 - Old George Inn
Hotel (M&S site) 15 - Mechanics’ Institution
6 - The Town Hall 16 - Former Wholesale Market
7 - Former Examiner offices 17 - Former Booth’s factory
8 - Library & Art Gallery

Introduction • T ite Buildings (1856), a woollen warehouse by Sir 3 – Market Place
William Tite, who also advised on the urban design of
Huddersfield’s first parish church was established on its the new town as a whole. The right to establish a market at Huddersfield was
present site in about 1100, although the settlement around granted to the Ramsdens, as lords of the manor, in 1671
the church was no more than a village until the late 18th The ‘new town’, with its grid of streets to the south-east and the market cross, bearing their coat of arms, was
century. The present town centre is almost entirely a product of the station, was the vision of George Loch, agent to the erected soon afterwards, though the stonework has been
of commercial and industrial development since that time. Ramsden estate, which owned the town centre until 1920. repeatedly renewed. This is the ‘centre’ of Huddersfield,
This leaflet offers a walking tour of the main features of Loch had already been instrumental in bringing a through from where distances on milestones were measured, and
historical and architectural interest in the town centre. It railway to Huddersfield on a line which where many public meetings and political protests have
has been prepared jointly by Huddersfield Civic Society and opened up the opportunity for development. taken place.
Huddersfield Local History Society, with funding and support But the open square itself owed more to
from Kirklees Council. Joshua Hobson, a campaigning journalist Until the late 18th century Huddersfield was little more than
and radical politician who was clerk to the a village winding along the East-West axis of present day
1 - St George’s Square Improvement Commissioners – predecessor Kirkgate and Westgate, surrounded by fields. From 1768 a
of the Borough Council - at the time. lane running south was opened up as New St, but the old
The Square is the centrepiece of the George Inn (see point 14) closed off the square to the north
Victorian ‘new town’ and dates from the Until the late 20th century the Square, along
1850s. The focal point is the Railway with the Market Place, was at the heart of until 1852, when John William St was driven through as
Station (1846-50), a grade 1 listed local politics; mass meetings here marked part of the ‘new town’ development.
building described by one architectural journalist as “more the major issues of the day. The statue of
of a palace than a station, a kind of stately home with trains Huddersfield-born Prime Minister Lord Market Place displays many stages in
in”. The architect was James Pigott Pritchett (‘Pritchett of (Harold) Wilson (1916-95) is by Ian Walters and the town’s development. Today it is
York’) and the builder was Joseph Kaye, responsible for was unveiled in 1999 by then PM Tony Blair and surrounded by banks. Lloyds TSB
many of the town’s Georgian and Victorian buildings. Lady Wilson. A statue of Sir Robert Peel stood (1912, by Gibson, Skipwith & Gordon)
in the Square from 1873 to 1949. is typical of the ‘Edwardian baroque’ style
Clockwise from the station are: of the time, with later carved panels on
2 – Estate Buildings the outer doors depicting four local
• T he George Hotel (1850, by William landmarks, the Parish Church, Castle
Wallen & Charles Child). It was here that Estate Buildings (1871-2, by W H Crossland) Hill, Railway Station and Civic Centre;
the Rugby League was established in was built as the Ramsden estate office. while RBS is in an ornately detailed
1895, and the hotel offers an interesting The Ramsden family owned the manor Italianate style (by William Cocking,
museum about the sport and the of Huddersfield from 1599 to 1920, c.1860). To its left is the arched entrance
Huddersfield Giants. when the estate was sold to Huddersfield to Market Walk (known to many as
Corporation (earning the nickname ‘the ‘Wappy Nick’, though for reasons lost
• L ion Buildings (1852-4, by town that bought itself’), and their fingerprints in time), and on that side of the Market
Pritchett). This was built for can be found on every aspect of the town’s development. Place is a glimpse into the early 19th
mixed commercial uses; the Crossland was a local architect who gained a national century yards which occupied much of
lion is a fibreglass copy of reputation with other Gothic Revival buildings, notably the town centre.
the original, which was in Rochdale Town Hall and Royal Holloway College, Egham,
Coade stone, a ceramic Surrey. In 1888 a large Gothic drinking
stoneware. fountain, designed by R W Edis, was
Turning left down Westgate towards the Market Place, note erected in the Market Place - a
• Britannia Buildings (1856-9, by Byram Arcade on the left (1881/2, again by gift to the town from Sir John
William Cocking), occupied for Crossland). This was a retail development by the William Ramsden. It was
many years by the Huddersfield Ramsden estate; Byram was the name of their moved to St Paul’s Gardens, at
(later Yorkshire) Building seat near Pontefract, and their coat of arms – the bottom of Ramsden St, in
Society; the ground floor was from which Huddersfield Corporation’s derived 1922, and after World War II
converted into a banking hall – appears over the entrance. Opposite is Westgate to Greenhead Park, where it
for the Society by local architect House, a mid-19th century building with a 1923 stands today.
Clifford Hickson in 1926. steel frontage by Pascal Steinlet of Newcastle.

4 – Brick Buildings 7 – Former Examiner offices Across the ring road is the main entrance to the University of
Huddersfield, which can trace its origins to the Young Men’s
This was built as a row of For many years this was the office Mental Improvement Society of 1841, which soon became a
shops by the Ramsden estate of the Huddersfield Examiner. very successful Mechanics’ Institution (see point 15). St Paul’s
in 1770, using bricks left over The town had two independent Church (John Oates, 1829) is now a concert hall; to its left the
from their nearby Cloth Hall newspapers from the mid-19th Harold Wilson Building is by local architects Abbey Hanson Rowe
(1765/6) (see below). Apart from the Victorian new town, it century – the Conservative Chronicle (1999), while beyond St Paul’s to the right is the elaborate Gothic
was from 1765-80 that the estate paid greatest attention to (1850) and the Liberal Examiner Ramsden Building (Edward Hughes, 1881-4), built as the first
the town’s economic development, with other investments (1851). The latter continues as a daily paper today, though now technical college. Within the campus is the meeting point of the
including the Broad Canal and a new slaughterhouse and owned by a national group. Broad and Narrow Canals, which provided connections to the
butchers’ shambles on the opposite side of New Street. east and west coasts respectively.
8 – Library & Art Gallery
5 – Former Temperance Hotel (M&S site) 10 – Lawrence Batley Theatre
The town’s first purpose-built central library
Until 1909 this was the site of Thornton’s Temperance was designed by E H Ashburner and dates from When it was built in 1819, Queen Street Wesleyan Chapel
Hotel, a focal point for the town’s strong temperance and 1937-40. The sculpted figures, by James Woodford was the largest in the country, with around 2000 seats. The
radical movements. In the 2nd half of the 19th century RA, represent the youthful spirits of literature and design has been attributed to Charles Watson, partner
Joseph Thornton presided over so varied a range of lectures, art. The site was previously occupied by Ramsden of J P Pritchett, and the builder was Joseph Kaye. After
discussions and activities here that the hotel soon became St Congregationalist Chapel, one of several town some decades of mixed fortunes,
known to its devotees as ‘The Centre of Light and Knowledge’. centre chapels now demolished.
The present building dates from 1933. the building reopened as
The modern shops facing the library front the the Lawrence Batley
Opposite, at the side of the HSBC bank, Cloth Hall St led to the controversial Queensgate Market (J Seymour Theatre in 1994 (Mr
Cloth Hall of 1765/6, which stood where Sainsbury’s is now visible Harris Partnership, 1968-70), the Batley being a local
at the top of the street. Built by the Ramsden estate to provide a town centre’s only post-war listed businessman who
central market for cloth, which was out-growing the facilities of building. Renowned for its unique supported several
the Market Place, churchyard and various yards, it was struggling 21 freestanding reinforced concrete projects in the town).
for business by the late 19th century and was demolished in roof shell umbrellas, and for Fritz
1930, giving way to a cinema. However elements of its entrance Steller’s ceramic sculptures on the Queen Street, Cross
were saved and now stand in Ravensknowle Park, a mile away on Queensgate (ring road) elevation, Church Street and
Wakefield Road. which echo the roof’s paraboloid
forms, its striking modernism is King Street form
Now continue south along New St - ‘new’ in the late 18th century, celebrated by some and deplored a small grid of
and the town’s major commercial street since the late 19th by others; the demolition of its new streets
century – and turn left at the Prudential Assurance building Victorian predecessor in King St (by Edward Hughes, 1880) is laid out by
(Alfred Waterhouse, 1897/8) into Ramsden St. lamented by many.
the Ramsden estate
6 – The Town Hall Now descend the steps in the far right corner of the Piazza - in the early 19th century and Queen St
through one of the Market Hall ceramics! - and turn left on the survives (or rather half-survives, on one
Huddersfield was incorporated as a ring road below. side only) as a handsome Georgian street,
Borough in 1868 and the Town Hall, with the former Court of Requests – now
by borough surveyor John Abbey, 9 – The Riding School a club – and stately terraced housing.
was built in two stages between Turning down King Street to the right, one
1875 and 1881. The richly-decorated Designed by William Wallen in 1848, can find several early 19th century commercial yards,
concert hall provides a magnificent this building was originally a military recently renovated in connection with the Kingsgate shopping
setting for performances by the riding school and headquarters of the centre. As David Wyles writes: “Here more than anywhere
world-famous Huddersfield Choral 2nd West Yorkshire Yeomanry Cavalry – else in Huddersfield the atmosphere of domestic squalor and
Society (founded in 1836) and other hence the sculpted horses on the facade. restless industry of the early 19th century town is preserved.
choirs and orchestras. Down the years it has also served as an Houses and workshops are tightly packed into setted and flagged
armoury, music hall – appropriately, the courtyards.” But the trail route continues ahead along Cross
Hippodrome – cinema and bar. Church Street.

11 – Parish Church 14 – Old George Inn From here it is easy to return to St George’s Square via Brook
Street and John William Street – noting in passing the striking
A church on this site was first Around the corner in St Peter’s ‘Ruskinian’ Marble Works (1863), originally the premises of
provided around 1100 by the de Street is the facade of the 18th marble masons Fisher & Dyson.
Laci family, the principal Norman century George Inn, which stood
landowner after the Conquest. in the Market Place (see point 3). 17 – Former Booth’s factory
The present St Peter’s Church (J It was moved here in 1852, when
P Pritchett, 1834-6) is the third the old George was demolished A few yards to the right along John William Street, at the
on the site. Notable inside are the to make way for John William St near corner of Viaduct Street, is the former site of clothing
altar canopy and east window by Sir Ninian Comper (1921); and replaced by its successor in manufacturer H. Booth & Sons Ltd. The factory’s former south
a leaflet available inside details other points of interest. In St George’s Square. wall can be seen bounding the present Tesco yard.
the churchyard to the north the most prominent tomb is that
of Joseph Kaye (1779-1858), the ‘builder of Huddersfield’. Turning right into Northumberland Street, the present Post Office On Friday 31 October 1941 Booth’s factory was destroyed in
However the Parish Church rebuild was one job he did not get, (C P Wilkinson, 1914) faces its less imposing predecessor by Huddersfield’s worst fire, caused by a smoker’s pipe left alight
and the wrongly-laid stone has led to continual problems of Crossland (1874/5). inside a raincoat pocket when work had just commenced.
decay since the mid-19th century. 49 people, mainly women and girls, were trapped in upper
15 – Mechanics’ Institution floors and lost their lives. Some jumped to their deaths; others
12 – Beast Market managed to scramble free or were rescued from the flames.
Designed by Travis & Mangnall of
As Huddersfield grew as a trading Manchester and built in 1859- The victims were interred in a communal grave in Edgerton
centre, the market spilled down the 61, this was the first purpose- Cemetery, a mile away, where a large memorial records the
hill from the Market Place. Cloth was built home for the Mechanics’ names of all those who died.
marketed in the parish churchyard Institution, which had been
until the Cloth Hall was built in founded in 1841 and was among Acknowledgements
1766. Immediately to the east of the the strongest in the country. The
churchyard, Beast Market lived up institutes offered liberal and Text – David Griffiths, Cyril Pearce
to its name until a new livestock technical education for skilled
market was built by the Corporation workers, and today’s University Images – Fiona Sharp, Chris Marsden, David Wyles
in the 1880s. The tall brick chimney of Huddersfield is a direct and Kirklees Image Archive
is all that remains of an early 20th descendant of the Institution. In
century jam factory. Running south from here, Venn Street 1886 the building became the Design and print – Kirklees Council Graphics
commemorates the Revd Henry Venn, vicar of Huddersfield Friendly & Trades Club. After
from 1759-71, who was a well-known evangelical and ally of years of dereliction, the conversion Further information and contact details
John Wesley. to creative lofts was by Brewster
Bye of Leeds (2002). Further information about Huddersfield Civic Society
13 – Byram Street can be found at www.huddersfieldcivicsociety.org.uk
16 – Former Wholesale The Society publishes The Buildings of Huddersfield:
On the west side of the Church, Five Architectural Walks by David Wyles, to which we
Byram Street, like Byram Arcade Market are indebted for much architectural detail in this
in Westgate refers to the Ramsden leaflet.
family seat near Pontefract. Kirkgate Now a retail market, this building
Buildings, opposite the church, was was designed by the first full- Huddersfield Local History Society can be found at
another Ramsden development time Borough Surveyor, Richard www.huddersfieldhistory.org.uk The website includes
designed by W H Crossland (1880), Dugdale, and put up in 1887/8. a digital edition of Discovering Old Huddersfield (in 5
its ‘Queen Anne’ style contrasting Dugdale was also responsible volumes) by Gordon & Enid Minter, which offers detailed
with his Gothic Estate Buildings. for the design of Greenhead historical tours in and beyond the town centre, and
Don’t miss the striking shop front Park (1881-4), just to the west background notes by Keith Gibson and Albert Booth on
of Neaversons (by Sharp & Law of of the town centre. The Market’s the buildings of Huddersfield.
Bradford, 1935); the interior is also well-preserved. renovation in 1980 brought out
the fine decoration applied to its The site also has links to other local history walks.
functional structure.
September 2012