Old Town Hall, Burslem


The Old Town Hall is a former town hall in Burslem, in Staffordshire, England. It is in the Market Place, in the centre of the town. It is a Grade II* listed building, listed on 2 October 1951.

History

The Old Town Hall was built between 1854 and 1857, replacing a town hall on the same site built around 1761. It was designed by G. T. Robinson.

Architecture

The building, in classical style, predominantly has Greek Revival features. Above the ground floor, there are paired Corinthian pilasters for the height of the upper storey, above which is a cornice surmounted by acroteria. At the west end there is a projecting portico with arched entrances, above which are Corinthian columns; above these, caryatids support an octagonal clock turret and a gilded angel finial.

Later uses of the building

After the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, the building became a public library, and later a recreation centre.
From 2003 the building housed Ceramica, a visitor centre showing the artistic and industrial heritage of the Potteries. The project was funded by the Millennium Commission. Part of the budget had to be spent in dealing with dry rot found in the building. The exhibition attracted fewer visitors than anticipated, and after Stoke-on-Trent City Council withdrew funding for day-to-day running, it closed in March 2011.
The building remained empty until 2015, when the modern extension built as part of the Ceramica exhibition was demolished and the Old Town Hall was converted into a sixth form college of Haywood Academy, a project sponsored by Steelite International.