Trafford Town Hall

Trafford Town Hall

Trafford Town Hall stands on a large site at the junction of Talbot Road and Warwick Road in Stretford, England, directly opposite the Old Trafford Cricket Ground. It was designed by architects Bradshaw Gass & Hope of Bolton on behalf of Stretford Municipal Borough, and built by the main contractor Edwin Marshall & Sons.[1] Work began on 21 August 1931,[2] funded by a government grant of £88,000;[1] the building was officially opened as Stretford Town Hall on the granting of Stretford's charter on 16 September 1933.[3]

The steel-framed building has two stories plus basement and attic floors, with a mansard roof. Set in landscaped grounds with a sunken garden, it is constructed of brick in Flemish bond with gritstone dressings. It originally consisted of a main front with a wing on each side, until a rear extension was added between the wings in 1983, enclosing an inner courtyard.[1]

In 1974, on the formation of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, the new council adopted the town hall as its base, renaming it Trafford Town Hall.[3] It was renovated in the early 1980s, in a schedule of work that included the addition of a 10,000-square-metre (110,000 sq ft) underground nuclear fall-out shelter; the shelter was subsequently used for storage until its closure in 2011.[4] Trafford Town Hall was designated a Grade II listed building in 2007.[1]

In 2011 the 1983 extension was demolished, the 1933 original building was refurbished and new offices were added. The new buildings were opened in 2013.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Historic England, "Trafford Town Hall (1391923)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 March 2015
  2. ↑ "Stretford Town Hall", Trafford Council, retrieved 29 March 2012
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Autumn 2007", The Twentieth Century Society, retrieved 29 March 2012
  4. ↑ Williams, Jennifer (9 November 2011), "Nuclear bunker that had Trafford Town Hall chiefs at war is uncovered", Manchester Evening News (MEN Media), retrieved 29 March 2012
  5. ↑ Mara, Felix (18 July 2013), "Keep it simple: Trafford Town Hall redevelopment by 5Plus", Architects' Journal, retrieved 13 March 2015

External reference

Media related to Trafford Town Hall at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 53°27′29″N 2°17′13″W / 53.458°N 2.287°W