County Hall Wakefield - An architectural icon

Wakefield's County Hall was officially opened in 1898 as the seat of the former West Riding Council and is the city's grandest civic building. Such is the architectural quality of the building, inside and out, that it is listed as a Grade I heritage property, the highest listing category available. and one that covers just 2.5% of all the properties listed in the country.

The building was acquired by Wakefield Council in 1987 with the Council Chamber being used for meetings of the full Council and some of the sub-committees.

Today, however, the building is officially closed. Although some services still operate from there and the Council Chamber is used for meetings of the elected members, it has been some years since the Society was able to conduct guided tours of the building's interior.

County Hall now needs some maintenance and repair work, particularly to the roof and this work is going to be expensive. But what exactly needs to be done to make the building serviceable?

Wakefield Council has commissioned property consultancy Gleeds to undertake a review of the building to assess its condition and identify the work required. Part of this project involves undertaking research into the history and architecture of the building so that its construction and heritage significance can be fully understood.

The Talk

Marcus Foster, Project Director, Gleeds, will outline the project and set out what Gleeds has been asked to do for the Council.

Marcus will then introduce Adam Longbottom, Heritage Architect from architectutal practice Levitate, to talk about the research he has been undertaking into the history and architecture of the building. This will include information about parts of the building not covered by our guided walks in the past.

The event:

The event will take place in the Kingswood Suite on the first floor at Wakefield Town Hall, Wood Street, Wakefield, WF1 2HQ, starting promptly at 7.30pm. (Doors open at 7pm and there is a lift.)

The event is free to attend and is open to anyone else interested in the subject matter. Note that you do not need to be a member of the Society to attend.

The event will end at approximately 9pm.

A live-stream option will also be available for anyone unable to attend in person. When selecting your tickets, please make sure you select either an 'in person' ticket if you wish to come to the Town Hall, or a 'live stream' ticket if you wish to watch on-line via Zoom. A link to the talk will be emailed to you on the day of the event.

Photography at this event

Please be aware that we take photographs at our events to help to promote the work of the Society. These photographs might be used in presentations, written reports, on our website and social media channels and in press releases.

If you do not wish to be photographed, please speak to one of the organisers at the event.

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