Description

SD 73 SE PADIHAM BURNLEY ROAD (south side)

3/31 Town Hall
-
- II

Town Hall, now Council Offices, with theatre and ball-room. 1938 by
Bradshaw Gass and Hope. Brick in Flemish bond with stone dressings and
green slate roof. 2 storeys and 11 bays by 7, built around a hollow square
with single storey theatre parallel to front block. Main facade has 3-bay
centre, slightly projecting and emphasised by a tetrastyle Corinthian
portico with the Padiham UDC coat of arms in the pediment. Above is a sort
of square,finialled cupola-cum-clock turret of Scandinavian inspiration.
Main doorway has moulded architrave, and the keystone in its flat arch bears
the figure of a woman carrying a distaff and a shuttle. Door panels have
rectangular fields with canted corners - a motif found throughout the
building. The first floor windows. have balconies with a long S motif which
also is frequently found in the building. To either side of the steps in
front of the portico is a planter decorated with highly stylised acanthus
leaves and in front of each end of the building is a flagpole whose base is
of comparable inspiration. Side wings have windows with slightly cambered
heads, stone plinth and ground floor sill band, a plain band at the level of
the portico cornice and rusticated outer corners. Theatre entrance along
Left-hand return wall projects slightly with fluted pilasters ostensibly
supporting a shallow canopy above which is a carved brick panel representing
a faun playing the Pan pipes. Interior is almost unchanged in its main
spaces, and original light fittings remain in stairhall, Council Chamber and
theatre. Entrance hall with faintly Classical motifs leading to imperial
staircase in a top-lit stairhall. At head of stairs rectangular top-lit
former Council Chamber has some faintly Classical motifs and woodwork in
keeping, while former Town Clerk's office has original electric fire.
Library has original book shelves. Theatre is lit from top and sides, has a
wood panelled dado and Art Deco proscenium arch whose canted corners are
echoed in the coves of the coffered ceiling.

The best example in the County (and an uncommonly well preserved one) of a
town hall in the (as yet) unfashionable style, which compromised between
traditional civic dignity and contemporary styling.

Listing NGR: SD7944533821

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Town Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q26530775

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)