Coordinates: 53°33′11″N 1°28′43″W / 53.5530°N 1.4787°W / 53.5530; -1.4787

Central Offices, Barnsley

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Central Offices, Barnsley
Central Offices
Central Offices is located in South Yorkshire
Central Offices
Central Offices
Location within South Yorkshire
General information
Architectural styleBrutalist style
AddressKendray Street, Barnsley
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates53°33′11″N 1°28′43″W / 53.5530°N 1.4787°W / 53.5530; -1.4787
Completed1960s
Demolished2015

Central Offices was a municipal facility at Kendray Street in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. As County Hall, it was the headquarters of South Yorkshire County Council.

History

The building, which was designed in the brutalist style, was built with a reinforced concrete frame for Norwich Union on a vacant site just south of the old cattle market in the 1960s.[1][2] The design for the seven-storey building involved continuous bands of glazing with exposed concrete beams above and below: it was leased by South Yorkshire County Council from its formation in 1974 and was subsequently known as County Hall.[3]

Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the newly-opened county hall before departing on foot to view Barnsley Indoor Markets located just south of the county hall on 30 July 1975.[4][5] During the Cold War era, South Yorkshire County Council declared itself "a nuclear-free zone",[6] although in practice any emergency planning for a nuclear attack would have been linked to the county hall.[7]

Following the abolition of South Yorkshire County Council in 1986, the building was renamed Central Offices and used by the housing, planning and public services departments of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.[1] After being vacated by the Barnsley Council in 2007,[8] the windows were lit up in various colours as a canvas for a large-scale public artwork in 2009.[9]

As part of a regeneration strategy to enhance the town centre,[10] the building was demolished in November 2015[11][12] to make way for a temporary home for Barnsley Indoor Markets.[13] Following the opening of the new permanent market hall in the Glass Works in November 2018,[14] Barnsley Council confirmed that the temporary market hall would in turn be dismantled to allow for the opening of a new public square on the old Central Offices site in spring 2021.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b "End of the metropolitan line: County councils face an uncertain future". The Independent. 13 August 1992. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1966. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  3. ^ "No. 48227". The London Gazette. 20 June 1980. p. 8836.
  4. ^ "Flashback to Royal Visit on 30 July 1975". Barnsley Independent. 5 January 2016. p. 3. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  5. ^ "The Queen's visit to Barnsley Market". Barnsley Independent. 22 September 2015. p. 3. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Cold War research guide". Sheffield City Council. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  7. ^ Craine, Simon; Ryan, Noel (2011). Protection from the Cold: Cold War Protection in Preparedness for Nuclear War. Wildtrack Publishing. p. 155. ISBN 978-1904098195.
  8. ^ "Taxpayers battered as projects stall in downturn". Yorkshire Post. 25 July 2011. Archived from the original on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Strata project lights up Barnsley office block". Architects Journal. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  10. ^ "Cabinet Response to the Scrutiny Report: Is the Council's approach to regenerating Barnsley Town Centre working?" (PDF). Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. 1 October 2014. p. 8. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Barnsley Council office demolition begins". BBC. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Barnsley Central Offices Demolition". Deadline Digital. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  13. ^ "Building a better Barnsley". Losberger De Boer. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  14. ^ "New Barnsley Markets to Open". Insider Media. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  15. ^ "First glimpse of new Barnsley revealed". Barnsley Chronicle. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  16. ^ "Six months of disruption ahead as main route in Barnsley centre is closed". Yorkshire Live. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.

Further reading

  • Clarke, Alan (1987). Rise and Fall of the Socialist Republic: Story of South Yorkshire County Council. Sheaf Publishing. ISBN 978-1850480037.
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