IN 1885 the need for a civic building large enough to cater for large meetings and public functions became pressing, when the Redistribution of Seats Act made Cleckheaton the electoral centre of the Spen Valley Parliamentary Division of the West Riding.
History is now repeating itself because the building is the only town hall in the new parliamentary constituency of Spen Valley, which came into being in October 2023.
In the 1880s Cleckheaton was a thriving place, growing rapidly due to its varied manufacturing works and businesses. The population had grown from 1,637 in 1801, to 11,826 in 1891 (it was 17,187 in 2021). It had changed from a village into a small town which needed local administrative premises and public space.
Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887 re-ignited debate about the idea of a Town Hall. Several business owners in Cleckheaton decided to act and formed a committee. The chairman was Elymas Wadsworth, and members included Joseph Law, George and John Siddall and William Clough. It was estimated that a town hall would cost £12,000 and the Local Board of Health - the 'local authority' at the time- agreed to fund half.
Cleckheaton’s residents were invited to subscribe and within three weeks more than £3,000 had been donated. The Leeds Mercury newspaper reported on January 18, 1892 that 'all classes in the district have contributed liberally to the funds' including 'a large number of spontaneous subscriptions from subscribers wishful to participate in this monument of the public spirit and enterprise of the inhabitants of Cleckheaton, the ‘metropolis of the Spen Valley’'
In the end the building cost £13,900, including all fittings, electric lighting and heating. Half was raised through public donations by 666 individuals.
The old British School on Bradford Road in the centre of Cleckheaton was proposed as the site; it was bought, the school demolished and its pupils moved to a new school on Whitcliffe Road.
A competition to design the town hall was won by Mawson & Hudson of Bradford, a firm of architects famous for buildings like St George’s Hall, Bradford Wool Exchange and Bradford Town Hall.
On June 21, 1890, William Anderton, Justice of the Peace, laid the foundation stone that can still be seen on the front of the building.
The town hall was described as Queen Anne-style and was lit by electricity throughout.
Historian Frank Peel, writing at the time, said that the architects designed the town hall to be “light and attractive...without excessive ornamentation”... “For public convenience the town’s offices are situated on the ground floor” and the vaulted hall, which can seat 1,000 people, has large “cathedral-tinted glass windows”. It is indeed large - 90 ft by 45 ft, with a balcony and space for an orchestra of 100 people.
Elymas Wadsworth, chief benefactor as well as chairman of the committee overseeing the town hall’s construction, sadly never saw it completed. He died on May 21, 1891, a victim of an epidemic of Russian influenza that killed 58,000 people in Britain. Mr Joseph Law stepped in as chairman and officially opened Cleckheaton Town Hall on February 10, 1892. He unveiled a plaque to recognise Elymas’s efforts in the foyer and dedicated the building to be a resource to serve the interest of the public.
The opening of the town hall was a massive event and celebrations lasted for more than a fortnight. On opening day all workplaces closed by midday, creating a public holiday. Cleckheaton’s streets were decorated and thronged with spectators who watched a grand procession arrive. First came mounted police, then soldiers of the Cleckheaton Company of the West Riding Regiment and their band. They were followed by representatives of all the neighbouring authorities, all the ministers of religion, the Local Board of Health, the Town Hall Committee, the architects, political party chairmen, the mayors of Batley, Halifax Morley and Ossett, and the MP for Spen Valley Joseph Woodhead.
After the formal ceremony the fun began. A lunch party in the town hall was followed by a grand ball in the evening. In the town there was a Grand Football Match and when darkness fell there were impressive fireworks and a torchlit procession that included cyclists in costume.
During the next fortnight residents could enjoy children’s entertainments, concerts and comic acts 'direct from the Crystal Palace'. One highlight was a full dress performance of Handel’s Messiah accompanied by the Cleckheaton Philharmonic Society’s orchestra.
Elymas Wadsworth’s family wanted to mark his contribution to the town hall: his sons paid for an impressive clock with bells as part of the design. The clock has three faces and was made by the notable company of William Potts & Sons of Leeds. Their clocks are very valuable and can be found on many civic buildings in cities and towns including York, Bristol, Wakefield and Preston, in religious buildings like Lincoln Cathedral and other buildings such as the University of Liverpool.
Cleckheaton’s clock was guaranteed by Potts & Sons not to vary by more than five seconds per month. Its pendulum bob weighs 300lb. There are five bells made by Taylor Brothers of Loughborough - the largest marks the hour, weighing 21cwt and sounding note F. The first quarter hour bell weighs 5cwt and sounds note E. The second quarter hour 5cwt bell sounds note D, the third quarter hour bell weighs 7cwt and sounds note C, and the fourth quarter bell weighs 14cwt and sounds note G. Altogether they play a tune called 'St Mary’s Cambridge' with 'a sweet round tone' according to The Century’s Progress published in 1893. The sound of the clock chiming can be heard across Cleckheaton and is commented on by residents as something special about the town.
The Wadsworth family formally inaugurated the clock on November 5, 1892.
Cleckheaton Town Hall was Grade ll-listed by Historic England in 1980, for its architectural and historic interest. This means the building is significant at a national level. It features in The Buildings of England by the architectural chronicler Nikolaus Pevsner. Neither of these heritage records, however, mention the interesting weather vane on top of the clock tower - a fox.
Since its opening, Cleckheaton Town Hall has been at the centre of community life, not only for the town of Cleckheaton, but as the very heart of history, politics and culture across Spen Valley. It has witnessed many important events. In 1908 the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst spoke at a meeting advocating votes for women. In 1910 the proclamation of George V as king on the death of his father Edward VII was made from the building and repeated in 1952 when Queen Elizabeth ll's father George VI died. Cleckheaton Town Hall hosted official victory celebrations at the end of World War Two.
All local council meetings were held there: the Local Board from 1892 to 1894, then Cleckheaton Urban District Council from 1894 to 1915, followed by Spenborough District Council until 1974, when it was incorporated into the new Kirklees Metropolitan Council based in Huddersfield. The ground floor offices were used by council staff. Residents could pay their council rents and rates there and attend appointments about housing, planning, education and other matters.
Retired MEP Michael McGowan recalls the part Cleckheaton Town Hall has played in his career: "It was at the Spenborough local election count in the town hall in May 1962 when, at the age of 21, I became the first ever Labour councillor for the village of Birkenshaw, where I was born and brought up.
"I used to step off the bus from Birkenshaw and go straight into the town hall for my committee and full council meetings. It was in Cleckheaton Town Hall in 1967, whilst working for the BBC, that I interviewed Harold Wilson about the future of BBC Local Radio. And it was in Cleckheaton Town Hall in the early hours of 4th May 1979 that the result for the Brighouse and Spenborough parliamentary constituency was announced. I was the Labour candidate and lost by 1,734 votes to Conservative Gary Waller.”
It was in Cleckheaton Town Hall that the count was held for the General Election of May 1997, resulting in Elizabeth Peacock, Conservative MP losing her Batley and Spen seat to Labour’s Mike Wood. In more recent years the counting of votes for local and general elections has been held in Huddersfield.
Kirklees has moved council staff out of the building, the offices have remained empty and unused and local citizens have not been able to make payments or get information or advice about council services there.
Cleckheaton Town Hall’s contribution to the cultural and social life of the town and Spen Valley has been enormous. All the musical societies - choirs, orchestras and bands - have held their concerts there. Amateur dramatic and operatic groups have performed their productions on its stage.
Cleckheaton Folk Festival has brought major folk artistes and sell-out concerts to the venue. Dance schools have used the large hall and stage with its excellent lighting for annual shows and in the 1970s young children could spend Saturday afternoons enjoying films in the town hall. Cleckheaton U3A has offered daytime classes for older people to hundreds of local citizens, using the large hall and most of the smaller rooms in the town hall.
Professional touring companies have used the building for productions of musicals and comedies, beer festivals have been held in the large hall.
Since 2022 repairs have been needed to the ceiling of the large hall and all these cultural activities have lost their home. There is nowhere else in Spen Valley that can cater for large public, political or civic meetings. Holding Cleckheaton Folk Festival in Batley or Dewsbury defeats its purpose of being a Cleckheaton event and deprives Cleckheaton businesses of three days of extra trade. The lack of events at the town hall reduces footfall in Cleckheaton at a time when the survival of high streets and small towns is a national and local policy objective.
Cleckheaton people have invested in their town for more than a century. In 1892 they paid half of the cost of their town hall, in 1910 they paid for Whitcliffe Mount Grammar School, the only secondary school established against the will of an education authority. In 1930 Cleckheaton’s Mowat family paid for a purpose-built Art Deco public library, donated to the people of Cleckheaton.
Whitcliffe Mount’s Foundation Building was demolished despite a public outcry. Cleckheaton Library was going to be closed but was reprieved after much protest by locals. Not surprisingly, Cleckheaton’s residents are very angry that Kirklees Council is closing their town hall from 31st December 2023. They want to keep it open, get it repaired and ensure that it remains at the heart of Cleckheaton’s life.
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