Public Hall & Parish Church, West Vale, Halifax - MCH00217
Churches & Chapels, Places, St John's, St Johns, West Vale
St John the Evangelist Church, Calder Street, West Vale was built in 1882 and last used fior worship in 1982.
Greetland and West Vale Mechanics' Hall was erected by the Greetland and West Vale Mechanics' Hall Company Limited and was intended to serve as both a town hall and mechanics' institute. The building's corner stone was laid on 21 June 1873 by Edward Crossley, businessman and member of Halifax's prominent carpet manufacturing family, who was also mayor of Halifax in 1874-6 and 1884-5. The building, which is believed to have been designed by Horsfall, Wardle & Patchett of Halifax, cost £3000 to construct and opened on 18 May 1874, with the capital raised for its construction being derived from £1 shares.
The building provided a large public hall for meetings and concerts, as well as classrooms, a library, and offices for the Greetland Local Board, Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank, and the Halifax Permanent Building Society. The Greetland and West Vale Fire Brigade was also based in the basement, which at the rear of the building presents itself as a lower ground floor level. In 1879 Anglican services were held in the hall until the construction of the Church of St John the Evangelist (by T Rushforth, Grade II) at the north-east rear of the building on Calder Street was completed in 1880. In 1882 the local Liberals opened a club in the building, with an opening ceremony attracting 700 people.
In 1907 the building was sold to Greetland District Council and it subsequently passed to Elland Urban District Council, and then Calderdale Council in 1974, before being sold to private owners in the 1990s, at which point it was partly used as offices. The building remained in use until c.2012. The building has latterly been known as West Vale Public Hall.
Information from: Historic England
Mick Chatham
Pennine Horizons Digital Archive
PHDA - Mick Chatham Collection
Pennine Horizons Digital Archive
TIFF file 8-bit
English (U.K.)
Documentary photograph
MCH00217.tif
St John's, Cragg Vale - HLS00113
Church, Churches & Chapels, Churches_&_Chapels, Cragg Vale, Minster, Places, St John's, St Johns
Ref: 003KSL L&S
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PHDA - Hebden Bridge Local History Society
Pennine Horizons Digital Archive
TIFF file 8-bit
English (U.K.)
Documentary photograph
HLS00113.tif