Hessle Town Hall

In the early 1890s, Hessle Parish Council decided to commission a dedicated parish hall:^[1] the site they selected was open land on the east side of South Lane.^[2] Construction work on the new building commenced after borrowings of £3,000 had been secured in January 1895.^[1][3] It was designed in the Victorian style, built in red brick with stone dressings and was officially opened in 1897.^[4]

The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto South Lane with the end bays gabled and slightly projected forward; the central bay, which was also slightly projected forward, featured an arched doorway with a brick architrave, above which there was a stone panel inscribed with the words "Town Hall A.D. 1897". The central bay and the end bays were fenestrated with three-light windows on the first floor while the other bays on both floors were fenestrated with cross windows. The central bay was flanked by full-height brick columns and surmounted by a gable. At roof level there was a louvered turret with a lead cupola.^[5] Internally, the principal room was the main assembly hall.^[6]

Following significant population growth, largely associated with the growing importance of Hessle as a commuter town for Kingston upon Hull, the area became an urban district with the town hall as its headquarters in 1899.^[7] In the absence of a dedicated catholic place of worship in the town, catholic church services were held in the town hall from 1928.^[8] The building ceased to be local seat of government when the enlarged Haltemprice Urban District Council was formed in 1935.^[9]

After the Second World War, the building was restored and re-opened by the Deputy-Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Sir John Wrigley, in 1948.^[10] Following the local government reorganisation in 1974,^[11] ownership of the building was transferred to Beverley Borough Council.^[12] It continued to operate as an events venue: significant concerts and theatrical performances included the opera, Haddon Hall, by Arthur Sullivan which took place at the town hall in May 1993.^[13] Hessle Town Council, which had been formed in 1986,^[4] acquired the building for a nominal sum in 1995 and subsequently carried out extensive refurbishment works, allowing it to become the offices and main meeting place of the council.^[14]