Explore the space
The Exchange
You’ve arrived at the heart of the Town Hall! You’re following in the footsteps of the visitors, guests, and occasional celebrity, who have been coming here for over 150 years.
The Exchange is the hub of the public part of the building. The space welcomes visitors whilst its decoration introduces them to the character of Victorian Rochdale.
The Exchange was originally built as a marketplace for local businessmen to trade cotton and wool, but they never used it. Perhaps they preferred to continue to do their deals in the local pubs.
Together, the architecture and decoration show the pride Rochdalians had in their town and borough, particularly in trade and commerce.
At the heart of it
The Town Hall isn’t just one building, it’s actually three, or maybe more!
The Exchange is at the centre of the public part of the building. When first built, it guided visitors to a lecture room and cloakroom on the right (now the Welcome Gallery).
It was also the way into the Council Chamber for meetings to the left and upstairs to the Great Hall for gatherings and entertaining.
This is the public face of the building. Off to the left there is the civic wing of the building, a suite of rooms for the mayor and councillors to welcome invited guests and conduct the practical jobs of governing the borough. To the right, beyond the Welcome Gallery, are spaces for justice, law and order. These include a court room, police station and cells.
Add to this a fire station and public library and it’s clear that the Town Hall is many buildings combined into one.
Old school architecture?
If you designed your own house what style would you choose and why? This was the choice facing Rochdale councillors when they picked a design for the new Town Hall.
The Town Hall was built in 1871, at the time of Queen Victoria, but much of it looks more like a medieval church. The style of the building owes more to the past than the future. This architecture is called Gothic revival or Victorian Gothic because it harks back to the look of older, medieval buildings in the UK and across Europe.
The columns, arches, decorative carvings, floor tiles and stained glass are typical Gothic features. Gothic revival architecture is grand in scale and rich in decoration. Every column and carving has a story to tell. These might be nods to architecture from other countries in the shape of an archway or the style of the roof. Or they may be the traditional tales told in the stained glass.
Explore every inch of the Exchange – from the medieval vaulted ceiling inspired by cathedrals, to the signs and symbols used as decoration.
Click below to discover more about the carvings and details that can be seen in the Exchange.
Indian wedding celebrations in The Exchange.