- Free Trade Hall
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The surviving facade of the Manchester Free Trade Hall, July 2005. The rear of the building has been demolished and replaced by a hotel.
The Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester, was a public hall constructed in 1853–6 on St Peter's Fields, the site of the Peterloo massacre and is now a hotel. The hall was built to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The architect was Edward Walters[1] The hall subsequently became Manchester's premier concert hall until the construction of the Bridgewater Hall in 1996. It was designated a Grade II* listed building on 18 December 1963.[2]
Contents
History
The Free Trade Hall was built as a public hall between 1853 and 1856 by Edward Walters on land given by Richard Cobden in St Peter's Fields on which two earlier halls had been built, one, a large timber pavillion built in 1840, and its brick replacement of 1842.[2][3] The halls were "vital to Manchester's considerable role in the long campaign for the repeal of the Corn Laws."[1] The hall was funded by public subscription and became a concert hall and home of the Hallé Orchestra in 1858. A blue plaque records it was built on the site of the Peterloo massacre in 1819.[2]
After suffering substantial damage during the Manchester Blitz it was reconstructed in 1950–51 by Manchester City Council's architect, L.C. Howitt[1], re-opening as a concert hall in 1951. As well as housing the Hallé Orchestra, it was used for pop and rock concerts. A Wurlitzer organ from the Paramount Cinema in Manchester was installed over four years and first used in public in a BBC programme in September 1977. When the hall closed the organ, which was on loan to the to the City of Manchester, was moved to the Great Hall in Stockport Town Hall.[4] The Hallé Orchestra moved to the Bridgewater Hall in 1996 and the hall closed through lack of demand.
In 1997, the building was sold by Manchester City Council to private developers despite resistance from local groups such as the Manchester Civic Society, who viewed the sale as inappropriate given the historical significance of the building. After the initial planning application was refused by the Secretary of State, a second and drastically modified planning application was submitted and approved. The building facade was retained when architects Stephenson Bell designed the 263-bedroom Radisson Edwardian Hotel. The hotel opened in 2004 at a cost of £45 million.[3]
Architecture
The Italian palazzo style hall was built on a trapeziform site in ashlar sandstone. It has a two-storey, nine-bay facade and concealed roof on Peter Street with an arcaded ground floor with rectangular piers with round-headed arches and spandrels with the coats of arms of the Lancashire towns which took part in the Anti-Corn Law movement. The upper floor has a colonnaded arcade, its tympana frieze is richly decorated with carved figures representing free trade, the arts, commerce, manufacture and the continents. Above the tympanum is a prominent cornice with balustraded parapet. The upper floor has paired Ionic columns to each bay and a tall window with a pedimented architrave behind a balustraded balcony.[2] The return sides have three bays in a matching but simpler style of blank arches. The rear wall was rebuilt in 1950–51 with pilasters surmounted by relief figures representing the entertainment which took place in the old hall.
The Large Hall was in a classical style with a coffered ceiling, the walls had wood panelling in oak, walnut and sycamore. Pevsner described it as "the noblest monument in the Cinquecento style in England", whilst Hartwell considered it "a classic which belongs in the canon of historic English architecture."[1]
After its closure, the hall was sold and after a protracted planning process and consultations with English Heritage it's conversion to a hotel was agreed. During the hotel's construction the Windmill Street and Southmill Street facades were demolished and the north block retained and connected by a triangular glazed atrium to a new 15-storey block clad in stone and glass. Artifacts salvaged from the old hall, including 1950s statues by Arthur Sherwood Edwards and framed wall plaster autographed by past performers, decorate the atrium light well.[3]
Events
A commemorative blue plaque on the side of the Manchester Free Trade Hall, September 2006The Free Trade Hall was a venue for public meetings and political speeches and a concert hall. In 1904, Winston Churchill delivered a speech at the hall defending Britain's policy of free trade. The Times called it, "one of the most powerful and brilliant he has made."[5] In 1905 the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) activists, Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney were ejected from a meeting in the hall addressed by the Liberal politician Sir Edward Grey, who repeatedly refused to answer their question on Votes for Women. Christabel Pankhurst immediately began an impromptu meeting outside, and when the police moved them on, contrived to be arrested and brought to court. So began the militant WSPU campaign for the vote.
Kathleen Ferrier sang at the re-opening of the Free Trade Hall in 1951, ending with a performance of Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory, the only performance of that piece in her career.
Bob Dylan played on 17 May 1966, at the height of the controversy over his perceived betrayal of his folk roots.[citation needed] Pink Floyd played there on five occasions: on 16 June 1969 during the Man/Journey tour; on 21 December 1970 during the Atom Heart Mother tour; on 11 February 1972 during the preview tour for The Dark Side of the Moon, during which the power failed and the show had to be abandoned – however, the group returned on 29 and 30 March.[citation needed] Genesis recorded a portion of its first live album, Genesis Live, there in February 1973.
On 4 June 1976, the Lesser Free Trade Hall was the venue for a concert by the Sex Pistols attended by 40 people which became legendary as a catalyst to the punk rock movement and New Wave. A second concert there was attended by many more people on 20 July 1976.[6]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d Hartwell 2001, p 92-5
- ^ a b c d "Free Trade Hall", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1246666, retrieved 13 October 2011
- ^ a b c Manchester’s Free Trade Hall is a building...., Urban Realm, http://www.urbanrealm.com/features/97/%3Cbr%3EManchester%E2%80%99bricks_Free_Trade_Hall_is_a_building_whose_past_incarnations_include_a_venue_for_public_meetings_and_political_speeches_and_a_concert_hall._Now_architect_Stephenson_Bell_has_transformed_it_into_a_luxury_hotel..htmle, retrieved 13 October 2011
- ^ The Stockport Publix One Wurlitzer, The Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust, http://www.voxlancastria.org.uk/stop1.htm, retrieved 14 October 2011
- ^ The Free Trade League, Winston Churchill.org, http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill/96-the-free-trade-league, retrieved 13 October 2011
- ^ BBC Manchester: Sex Pistols gig: the truth Sex Pistols gig: the truth, The BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2006/05/11/110506_sex_pistols_gig_feature.shtml BBC Manchester: Sex Pistols gig: the truth, retrieved 13 October 2011
References
- Hartwell, Clare (2001), Manchester, Pevsner Architectural Guides, London: Penguin, ISBN 0-14-071131-7
External links
Categories:- Grade II* listed buildings in Manchester
- Buildings with blue plaques
- Hotels in Manchester
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