Salford Town Hall is a structure in Greater Manchester which was once the municipal building of Salford, and shortly afterwards also became a court. Following the abolition of the County Borough of Salford it continued to function as Salford Magistrates' Court until 2011, when that body merged with the equivalent court of Manchester to form the Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court. The property is now owned privately. It is a Grade II Listed Building, having been so designated on 31 January 1952.
History
The building stands in Bexley Square, named after Lord Bexley, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. It was designed by Richard Lane in the Neo-classical style and completed in 1827. It was originally constructed as a market hall. It was not until 1835 that it became the Salford's town hall. In 1840 it also came to house the local court. The building was expanded three times in the nineteenth century. In January 1878 it was the place where local hero Mark Addy received several awards for his gallantry in saving people from drowning in the River Irwell. On 1 October 1931 it was the scene of the 'Battle of Bexley Square' where 10,000 protesters of the Salford Branch of the National Unemployed Workers' Movement clashed with police, an event which is commemorated with a plaque on the building. The building became the headquarters of the County Borough of Salford and continued to be called Salford Town Hall, notwithstanding that Salford was granted city status in 1926. It ceased to be the local seat of Government when the county borough was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974. Salford Civic Centre subsequently became the meeting place of the enlarged local authority area, known as the City of Salford. Salford Town Hall was used as a court house until the last two court rooms closed in December 2011. It was subsequently sold to private developers, who completed converting the building into apartments in November 2015.
Architecture
The building was designed by Richard Lane, and was his first architectural project. Lane would go on to design several further prominent buildings in what is now Greater Manchester, including the Friends Meeting House in Chorlton-on-Medlock and Chorlton Town Hall, both of which have similar designs to Salford Town Hall. The building is constructed in the style of the Neo-classical style, with a minimalist entablature of the Doric Order. Only the front of the building is faced with stone; the sides are red brick.
