Halifax: Wool Capital, Piece Hall, and the Calder Valley
Halifax made its money from wool. The Piece Hall, built in 1779 as a cloth trading hall with 315 rooms arranged around a colonnaded courtyard, is the only surviving example of its type in the country. It closed as a trading hall in 1871 and has been repurposed multiple times since, most recently as a retail, dining, and events venue after a 19 million pound restoration in 2017. The town sits in the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, with steep hills on three sides giving it a compact, enclosed feel. The population is around 88,000.
Dean Clough, the former Crossley carpet mill complex, has been converted into studios, offices, galleries, and business units. The mill buildings run for half a mile along the valley floor. Halifax is the administrative centre of Calderdale, a borough of approximately 210,000 that includes Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge, and Brighouse. Leeds is fifteen miles east by rail, Bradford ten miles. The town centre has struggled with retail vacancies but retains enough architectural substance to be worth more than a passing glance.
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Halifax made its money from wool. The Piece Hall, built in 1779 as a cloth trading hall with 315 rooms arranged around a colonnaded courtyard, is the only surviving example of its type in the country. It closed as a trading hall in 1871 and has been repurposed multiple times since, most recently as a retail, dining, and events venue after a 19 million pound restoration in 2017. The town sits in the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, with steep hills on three sides giving it a compact, enclosed feel. The population is around 88,000.
Dean Clough, the former Crossley carpet mill complex, has been converted into studios, offices, galleries, and business units. The mill buildings run for half a mile along the valley floor. Halifax is the administrative centre of Calderdale, a borough of approximately 210,000 that includes Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge, and Brighouse. Leeds is fifteen miles east by rail, Bradford ten miles. The town centre has struggled with retail vacancies but retains enough architectural substance to be worth more than a passing glance.
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