FORTY one years since Colne Town Council left Colne Town Hall because it was subsumed into Pendle Borough Council, history has come full circle and our Town Council Clerk, Susan Graham has moved back in.
Previously, she had worked from home in Earby. “It is great we have a presence in this magnificent building in the centre of town”, said Susan. “Members of the public are welcome to call during office hours. I am working behind the counter in the first room on your left once you have come up the ramp at the side of the building.”
Colne Town Hall is not just a significant building in Colne, it is also architecturally significant because it was designed by the great Victorian architect, Sir Alfred Waterhouse. The Grade II-listed building dates back to 1893.
Earlier in the year, Colne Town Hall’s cellar yielded up its secrets – a cache of furniture contemporaneous with The Town Hall and presumably designed by the architect, as he was wont to do. Some of the furniture has already been identified as coming from the original Mayor’s Parlour. In addition to the furniture, shelves of historic, leather bound ledgers containing accounts and plans have also been found. It is hoped that both the furniture and the ledgers can be brought up from the cellar, conserved and, if possible displayed to the Public. A posting on Facebook earlier in the year sparked considerable interest and there is clearly support for limited tours of the building, which features a grand staircase and polychromatic, Minton tiles.