Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Birkenhead Town Hall Foundations

After seeing an excellent photo of birkenhead town hall taken by Jase in photo gallery, i thought i would post this pic to show the beginning. The foundation stone was laid in 1883 and was opened in 1887 by John Laird. it was built using Storeton stone, Scottish granite and Marble. The build cost was £43,000.

Fantastic - thanks bert1

Did you know the current Wallasey town hall was a military hospital during the first world war? The original town hall was in Church street and war broke out before the Council moved into the new one so it became a hospital. My grandfather was not fit for active service and became a medic there. Talk about a good posting. Probably a half penny tram ride and he was home for tea.

I am told that the main entrance on Brighton street is actually the back of the town hall. It was intended that the nobs visiting would pull up in their boats and be carried up the stairs to the grand entrance.

Continuing the story of the Town Hall a little:

On July 10th 1901, less than 15 years after it opened, the building was badly damaged by a fire which lasted four hours, during the fire the clock tower collapsed (I think there are pictures of the damage in the Wirral Museum - get there fast before it's closed down!).

It was a year before the Town Hall was rebuilt, during this time the council met in the Sessions Court behind the Town Hall.



The town hall was designed by C.O.Ellison & Son, the restoration was carried out by Henry Hartley, who rebuilt the upper part of the tower to a new design.



The Town Hall was again menaced by fire 34 years later, when the sessions court was engulfed in flames, which threatened to spread to the main building

In 1904 a new stained glass window was installed above the grand staircase, this represented King Edward I's visit to Birkenhead in 1277.

On April 1st 1974, three years before Birkenhead's centenary, the Town Hall became redundant when Wirral Borough Council took over.

thanks bert. excellent work to


and hears what it looks like now

Nice pics Jase

Great pics Jase.

The clarity in those photos is unbelieveable, you can see every whisp of grass. What camera did you use?

a Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd. is a great camera

This was during the Liverpool City of Culture year: