Derby Hall, Bury Explained

Derby Hall
Coordinates:53.5929°N -2.297°W
Location:Bury
Built:1850
Architect:Sydney Smirke
Architecture:Neo-classical
Designation1:Grade II Listed Building
Designation1 Date:3 February 1971
Designation1 Number:1067239

The Derby Hall is a Victorian neo-classical building situated on Market Street in the centre of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is a Grade II listed building.

History

The Derby Hall was built in the late 1840s at the instigation of Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby.[1] It was designed by Sydney Smirke, an architect best known today for his work on the circular reading room at the British Museum.[2] The building has a central Venetian window and a pedimented portico with four attached columns.[3]

It was originally the central part of a larger development that included the Derby Hotel on the left, and the Athenaeum on the right (both also designed by Smirke). These other two buildings were demolished in 1965[1] and 1971, respectively.[4] Construction of the building began at Christmas 1848 and was completed in October 1850.[5] The hall was opened on 6 November 1850 with a concert which was attended by 600 people.[6]

The building was originally known as the Public Rooms, although it quickly became known as the Town Hall. At its opening, it contained a magistrate's court, a police station, the Earl of Derby's estate offices and a large assembly room.[1] Stanley hoped the building would become the meeting place for Bury's council; however, owing to a disagreement between the earl and the local authority, it was not initially used for that purpose.[1] After the First World War the council acquired the building from the Stanley family and used it as a council building.[7] The council moved to the new Town Hall on Knowsley Street in 1954[8] and, since 1979, the building has been operated by a registered charity called Bury Metropolitan Arts Association, which uses it as a theatre and concert venue known as The Met.[9] [10]

One notable concert held in the building was by rock band Joy Division on 8 April 1980, which descended into a riot after some of the audience started throwing bottles at the stage. This was because Alan Hempstall of Crispy Ambulance and Simon Topping of A Certain Ratio filled in on vocals, since Joy Division's own lead singer Ian Curtis was recovering from an attempted suicide attempt the previous day.[11]

See also

References

53.5929°N -2.297°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The 120-year-old unsolved mystery of Bury hotel double suicide. Bury Times. 9 February 2020. 8 July 2020.
  2. Web site: Sydney Smirke. British Museum. 20 July 2020.
  3. Book: Pevsner. Nikolaus. The Buildings of England: South Lancashire. 1969. Penguin. London. 0-14-0710-36-1. 99. 1st.
  4. Web site: Origins and history of the Athenaeum. 8 July 2020.
  5. The Manchester Courier, and Lancashire General Advertiser, Saturday 5 October 1850, p. 5
  6. Bury, Lancashire. The Musical Times. 1 December 1850. 4. 79. 106. 3370331. A concert was given on the 6th of November, on the occasion of the opening of the new town hall, built from a design by Sidney Smirke, of London : it will accommodate 500 persons, but the audience, on this occasion, numbered 600. The formation of a Philharmonic Society in Bury, has been decided upon..
  7. Web site: Bury' Met set to re-open after £4.6 million refurbishment. 6 December 2016. About Manchester. 8 July 2020.
  8. Book: Frain, Sean . The Bury Book of Days. The History Press. 2013. 978-0752485829.
  9. Web site: Bury Metropolitan Arts Association . September 11, 2011 . Open Charities.
  10. Web site: Bury Metropolitan Arts Association . September 11, 2011 . Charity Commission.
  11. Book: Curtis, Deborah . Deborah Curtis

    . Deborah Curtis . 1995 . . London . . 0-5711-7445-0 . 117.