The Town Hall was built in 1892 by James Garry of West Hartlepool who was one of 10 competitors to a limited entry competition held in 1890. The building itself was constructed by W.C. Atkinson of Stockton between 1890-1892 with initial construction costs of £4,500.
The building was taken over by Stockton Borough Council and due to lack of maintenance fell into disrepair. The Council for Thornaby on Tees then successfully purchased the building for £100,000 and obtained a Heritage lottery grant to fund refurbishment and return the building to its former glory. Since its refurbishment which commenced in 2013, The building is now valued for insurance purposes for 7 million pounds.
EXTERIOR
There are two main elevations that converge into a chamfered corner bay made of red brick, sandstone & terracotta producing its vibrant colour. The exterior stone was quarried from the Dunhouse quarry near Barnard Castle with its red bricks made in Normandy, Middlesbrough.
ENTRANCE
The building entrance lies between sweeping brackets which support a balcony from a door leading off from the Civic chamber on the first floor.
The main entrance doorway retains its original stained-glass windows, the doorway was carved and created by Arrowsmith of London. The hallway floors are covered in original Minton floor tiles and the hall and stairway is lit by natural light coming from a glazed central dome above the stairs. This floor holds mainly offices including the main Council Office used for its meetings.
STAIRWELL
The main circular stairway has its original wrought iron spindles which spiral their way to the first floor of the building. This staircase sweeps upwards under the glazed central dome, and a glazed installation showing the building façade both of which flood the area with natural light.
FIRST FLOOR
This floor holds some office space but also the main Civic Chamber which is accessed via its original doors with leaded stained-glass windows. In the room itself there are arched windows which are topped by further original stained-glass panels holding the Thornaby Crest.
This room still retains some of its original walnut furniture made by Balfour & Sons of Glasgow, although the curved walnut tables which accompanied these chairs were removed and put into storage by Stockton Borough Council. These tables have never been returned. The fireplace in this room holds a clock made by Potts & Sons which was donated to the Town Hall by the architect James Garry, formally a wind mechanism this has now been electrified.
This chamber and its walls are kept now to commemorate the people of Thornaby who served in our armed forces, including those members of the RAF 608 squadron based in the town between 1930 & 1958.
Through this room is the Mayors parlour which was formerly the official office used by the Mayor for his meetings with the public but is now used for refreshments during the many events hosted by the Council in this building.
SECOND FLOOR
On the 2nd floor there are further offices and you can access the clocktower and get inside the tower itself to view its mechanism. If you time it correctly, you can be there to hear the bells when they chime every 15 minutes. The clock tower with the original clock face which still retains its original workings is now controlled electrically.
Thornaby Town Council
Town Hall
Mandale Road
Thornaby-on-Tees
North Yorkshire
TS17 6AW
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