“ARE you in Italy?”
I had sent my daughter a photograph taken on a day out, prompting that reply.
She was surprised when I replied “No, Halifax.”
My husband and I had travelled to the Calderdale town by train, on a glorious day, to visit the Grade l-listed Piece Hall, which as anyone who has been will know, looks every inch like an Italian piazza.
It’s a short walk of no more than ten minutes from Halifax railway station to the historic building, which, once you step inside, opens up in all its glory.
The only remaining Georgian cloth hall in the world, it is the sole survivor of the great 18th century northern cloth halls, where pieces of cloth were traded. Some families produced cloth themselves, while others worked for a clothier who paid a set ‘piece rate’ to rural home workers to produce the cloth which he sold.
The historic hall – which was open on Saturdays – originally had 315 rooms were used by merchants to store and sell cloth, specifically ‘pieces’ of woven woollen fabric. The hall could see vast amounts of cloth sold, worth around £500,000 every week in today’s money.
In its heyday the cloth hall would have been buzzing with life, as it was on our visit. The Piece Hall in its present form is the result of a £19 million regeneration project which restored the hall to its former glory, turning it into a vibrant cultural and commercial centre.
Today the rooms house a variety of shops, cafes, restaurants, and heritage spaces. We ate at a café with outside tables, overlooking the busy courtyard. A statue of English diarist Anne Lister sits in the square. ‘Gentleman Jack’ Anne lived at nearby Shibden Hall until her death in 1840.
The Piece Hall has a brilliant visitor centre, where friendly volunteers impart all manner of interesting facts, alongside exhibits which include a loom and examples of cloth to feel.
The shops lining the ground and upper floors of the hall sell a range of goods from tourist knick-knacks to clothing, toys and antiques. There’s a mini Harveys of Halifax, a department store in its fourth generation of family ownership,
I did a spot of trading myself while wandering along the upper floor: I had in my purse a gold filling which had fallen from my husband’s tooth many months beforehand. As we walked past a jewellers a ‘buy and sell gold’ sign caught my eye. I handed over the tooth and was given £10 in return. It may not have been cloth, but it was a trade all the same.
The sun-baked courtyard, paved with a combination of sandstone and European granite, is a sought after setting for live music, with many big names such as Tom Jones, Blondie and Sting having graced the outdoor stage in recent years.
Performances are, however, not new to the vast space. In August 1861 Blondin, the famous French tightrope walker and acrobat – best known for crossing the 1,100 ft (340 m) Niagara Gorge on a tightrope – performed ‘his astounding and perilous Cataract Ascension’ on a rope 100ft high and 300ft long. A poster advertising his appearance can be seen in the visitor centre.
The Piece Hall sits on the edge of Halifax Borough Market, a Victorian structure with a 60-foot octagonal dome. It’s a compact, characterful market, with a wide variety of stalls from fishmongers to books, haberdashery and DIY, and a number of cafes. A cup of tea and coffee – very nice they were too – set us back far less than I’d expect to pay for just one drink in a national chain.
After a walk around an unexpectedly quiet Halifax town centre, including a quick browse in Harvey’s, we ended the day at Halifax Minster, a cool haven from the heat of the afternoon.
Box pews, beautiful stained glass windows, Mouseman chairs and a stunning wooden painted ceiling are among features of this 12th century, Grade l-listed landmark.
The wooden ceiling features 92 panels depicting the coats of arms of vicars, local families, and the 12 tribes of Israel.
The minster is the spiritual home of Anne Lister – she was baptised there, worshipped there and is buried there. While the exact spot of her burial within the church is not known, Anne was interred in the Lister family vault. As section of her tombstone, which was rediscovered in 2000, is on display in the minster.
Here too, the volunteers on duty could not have been more helpful, answering our many questions and adding more fascinating snippets.
It was good having a sit down in the calm, quiet atmosphere – the perfect place to gather your thoughts.
We loved the eye-catching stone gargoyles on the outside of the minster, especially the ram with its curly horns and a ferocious-looking dog-like creature with wings.
Other attractions in Halifax include the excellent National Children’s Museum Eureka! which I have visited previously, albeit many years ago, and Dean Clough Mills, a vast hub of arts, leisure and business, which is next on our list to discover.
To find out more visit thepiecehall.co.uk; halifaxminster.org.uk; visitcalderdale.com/locations/halifax
