Bright Hall

Of all the rooms in the Town Hall, the Bright Hall has the most colourful history. It’s been home to a library, art school, surveyor’s office, and music school. It is now a community space.

Created to house Rochdale’s first Free Library, the space and many of the books were destroyed by the fire in 1883. The fire and later alterations have left little sign of the original decoration. The walls were painted with a rose pattern, the beams gleamed with gold and other colours. The original stained glass windows have survived. They feature Gutenberg, the inventor of printing and Cadmus, inventor of writing.

Today the room is richly decorated again, with artwork created by the local community.