Yp Comment: Halifax cloth hall is to reopen

IN lavishing praise on Halifax the poet Sir John Betjeman once said that the Piece Hall was symbolic of the town's 'great worth' and hidden beauty.

Now, after a restoration project costing an estimated £19m, Halifax’s historic 18th Century hall will reopen to the public at 10am on Yorkshire Day, August 1, when the bell above the west gate will ring, just as it did on New Year’s Day back in 1779, to declare the start of trading.

The Piece Hall is arguably Yorkshire’s most important non-religious building and the fulcrum around which the West Riding’s economy was built. It remains the only surviving example of the great northern pre-industrial temples in which hand-loomed pieces of cloth were bought and sold.

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It’s three years since the hall closed its doors to the public so the renovation work could begin and the project has not been without its hiccups. Nevertheless, it will be worth the wait just to see this magnificent building thriving once again.

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