Selby Town Hall

The local board of health in Selby, which was established in 1851,^[1] established its first purpose-built offices on the corner of Gowthorpe and New Lane.^[2] These offices were designed in the Gothic Revival style, built in red brick with stone dressings and were completed in the late 19th century.^[2] The building featured a turret with a conical roof on the corner with New Lane, arched openings on the ground floor, mullioned windows on the first floor and attic windows in the gables above.^[2] The offices became the headquarters of Selby Urban District Council when it was formed in 1894^[3] and were converted for use as a branch of the York County Savings Bank after the council moved to modern premises in Park Street in the 1960s.^[4]

Meanwhile, the Primitive Methodist Church, which had been established by William Clowes in the early 19th century,^[5] decided to establish a chapel in Selby in 1840.^[6] The church initially operated from a small chapel in a yard off Gowthorpe but, in the 1850s, Lord Londesborough donated a site in York Street to create a more substantial building.^[7]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 4 April 1862.^[6] It was designed in the Italianate style, built in brown brick with stone dressings and was officially opened on 10 October 1862.^[8] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto the corner of Gowthorpe and Brooke Street; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured two round headed doorways separated by a Corinthian order column and flanked by Doric order pilasters; there was a two-light mullioned window on the first floor with an oculus in the gable above and there were finials and urns at roof level. It was renovated in 1926 but, following a reduction in religious attendances, it was decommissioned as a chapel in August 1956.^[7]

The building served as a health clinic in the late 1950s and then operated as a tyre depot under the management of Moss Tyres and then ATS Group in the 1960s and 1970s.^[7] It then fell vacant in the 1980s and remained derelict until it was acquired by Selby Town Council in 1990.^[7] After an extensive programme of refurbishment works, which involved the creation of an events venue as well as offices for the town council, the building was reopened in 1996.^[7] The building received a Good Design Award from the Selby Civic Society, for the quality of the refurbishment works, in 1998.^[9] Performers at the town hall since then have included the singer songwriters Boo Hewerdine and Brooks Williams in December 2012,^[10] and the singer songwriter Ralph McTell in February 2019.^[11]