Derby Hall, Greater Manchester
| The Derby Hall | |
|---|---|
 The Derby Hall, with Athenaeum House on the right | |
  Location within Greater Manchester | |
| General information | |
| Town or city | Bury |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 53°35′34″N 2°17′49″W / 53.5929°N 2.297°W |
| Construction started | 1848 |
| Completed | 1850 |
| Client | Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Sydney Smirke |
The Derby Hall is a large Victorian neo-classical building situated on Market Street in the centre of Bury, Greater Manchester, England.
History
The Derby Hall was built in the late 1840s on the instigation of Edward Smith-Stanley, the 13th Earl of Derby.
It was designed by Sydney Smirke, an architect who is best known today for his work on the circular reading room at the British Museum.
It was originally the central part of a larger development that included the Derby Hotel on the left, and the Athenaeum on the right (both also designed by Smirke). These other two buildings were demolished in 1965 and 1971, respectively.
Construction of the building began at Christmas 1848, and was completed in October 1850.[1]
The hall was opened on 6 November 1850 with a concert which was attended by 600 people.[2]
The building was originally known as the Public Rooms (although it quickly became known as the Town Hall). Upon opening, it contained a magistrate's court, a police station, the Earl of Derby's estate offices, and a large assembly room.
Stanley hoped the building to be the meeting place for Bury's council, however because of a disagreement between the peer and the local authority, it was never used for this purpose.
In 1925 the Derby estates were sold, and the building was purchased for £12,500 by Bury council: it was at this time that it became known as The Derby Hall. The main room upstairs served as a civic hall, hosting dances, banquets and other occasions.
In 1936, despite much local opposition, the stonework of the ground floor was knocked out to make a large glass window for a showroom for the local electricity board. This remained for forty years, when it was in turn replaced by the three archways that stand today.
Since 1979 the building has been operated by a registered charity called Bury Metropolitan Arts Association, which uses it as a theatre and concert venue known as The Met.
One notable concert held in the building was by rock band Joy Division on 8 April 1980, which descended into a riot after some of the audience started throwing bottles at the stage. This was due to Alan Hempstall of Crispy Ambulance and Simon Topping of A Certain Ratio filling in on vocals, as Joy Division's own lead singer Ian Curtis was recovering from an attempted suicide bid the previous day. The gig itself would be Joy Division's fourth last gig before Curtis eventually committed suicide on 18 May 1980.
References
Coordinates: 53°35′34″N 2°17′49″W / 53.5929°N 2.2970°W