Buildings of Stoke-on-Trent
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Buildings of Stoke-on-Trent |
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Second Town
Hall
Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent
| At a glance | |
| Building |
Burslem - Second Town Hall |
| Location: |
Market Place - built on the same site as the first town hall |
| Built: |
This Town Hall (built between 1854 and 1857) replaced the earlier one of 1761. The foundation stone was laid on May 24th 1854 by William Davenport, the potter, of Longport Hall. |
| Architect: | G. T. Robinson of Leamington Spa |
| Architectural style: |
Neo-Classic Style, Baroque in inspiration, Ashlar. Features: The building features a distinctive clock tower topped by an Angel of Victory sculpture (representing the Greek goddess Nike with a laurel wreath), which was added shortly after the building opened. "With giant pilasters and a portico to the west of clustered giant columns. Baroque top. Impressive entrance hall and staircase." N. Pevsner's 'The Buildings of England' |
| Demolished: | existing |
| Listing: | Grade II* listed on 2 October 1951 | see listing details |
| Later uses: |
It served as the headquarters for the borough of Burslem until the 1910 Federation of Stoke-on-Trent. Over the 20th and 21st centuries, the building has found various lives as a public library, a recreation centre, and the Ceramica exhibition visitor center which closed in March 2011. |
| Site today: | From September 2015 became City College, a 400-place sixth form academy run by the Haywood Academy. |
Postcard of second Town Hall and
Market Place, (1910)
In Arnold Bennett's book
"The Old Wives' Tale", Mr. Baines possessed a watch that he
considered to be
infallible and frequently, when it did not correspond
with the town hall clock, he would expostulate: "Then th' Town
Hall's wrong"
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on the second town hall