Hanley Town Hall

Hanley Town Hall is a Victorian municipal building in Albion Square, in the Hanley district of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. It is a Grade II listed building, and its story is a little unexpected: it was not built as a civic seat at all, but as a hotel.

What is Hanley Town Hall?

Today the building is used as the local register office, so it is still part of everyday civic life in the city. It stands in the centre of Hanley, the commercial heart of the Potteries, in Albion Square. For visitors interested in the architecture and urban history of Stoke-on-Trent, it is an easy stop on a walk through the centre.

How did a hotel become a town hall?

The structure was built in 1869 as the Queen's Hotel. It was designed by Robert Scrivener in the Renaissance style, using red brick with stone dressings, and it opened on 31 December 1869. The cost is reported at around £20,000, a considerable sum for the period and a sign of the ambitions of a growing industrial town.

The hotel business struggled in the 1880s. In 1884 the borough council bought the building and gave it a new purpose. Borough surveyor Joseph Lobley oversaw the conversion, redesigning the interior to hold council chambers, offices and courtrooms. It reopened as the town hall in 1886. Sources give slightly different dates for the works, with some describing a longer conversion period between 1884 and 1888, so treat the exact years as approximate.

Who designed what?

Two names are worth remembering. Robert Scrivener gave the building its original Renaissance character as a hotel. Joseph Lobley then adapted it for civic use. Lobley also designed the neighbouring Victoria Hall, built in 1888 to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, so the two buildings form a small cluster of late Victorian public architecture in the same part of Hanley.

What else is there to see?

In front of the building stands a war memorial dating from 1921-22, the work of Harold Brownsword according to Pevsner. It is a good reason to pause on the square and look at the facade from a distance.

Is it still the town hall?

No. The building stopped serving as the town hall after the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent was formed in 1910, when the six towns of the Potteries were united under one authority. Hanley's former civic role therefore lasted only a few decades, which makes the building a useful reminder of how the area was governed before federation.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Hanley Town Hall? In Albion Square in Hanley, part of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

Is it a listed building? Yes, it is listed Grade II.

Who designed it? Robert Scrivener designed the original building in 1869, and Joseph Lobley redesigned it as a town hall in the 1880s.

What is it used for today? It houses the local register office.

Was it always a town hall? No. It opened in 1869 as the Queen's Hotel and became the town hall after the borough bought it in 1884.

Can I go inside? Because it works as a register office, access depends on its opening hours and on the services running that day. The exterior and the war memorial can be seen at any time from the square.