The Piece Hall, Halifax (The Piece Hall (Halifax))

Member Name: micksheff

Product:	The Piece Hall (Halifax)
Date:	10/01/09 (332 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of history, free to visit

Disadvantages: Only a limited number of shops

250 years ago the West Yorkshire town of Halifax was at the centre of the textile trade. A few decades later textile mills would spring up all along the valley in which Halifax sits but back in the 1770's most of the cloth was made in the local people's houses on handlooms. The Piece Hall opened in 1779 as a place where these traders could meet and trade their cloth. It was built to replace a smaller building called The Cloth Hall.

Today The Piece Hall is a Grade 1 listed building. It stands in the heart of town centre and is now used largely as a shopping complex.

I was in Halifax yesterday and The Piece Hall was one of the places that I wanted to see. I easily found the main entrance as it is clearly sign posted from everywhere within the town centre but upon arrival I was greeted by the not quite so quite imposing entrance to this very grand building. The entrance is a doorway between the high brick walls which has a small sign above it that simply reads " The Piece Hall Halifax - Britain's oldest remaining cloth hall opened January 1st 1779".

What the modest entrance conceals is a very large rectangular shaped building that is built around a central courtyard. The courtyard is open air with a small patch of green glass but the majority of its space was taken up by market stalls and a huge white marquee tent. This marquee tent appears every winter and houses an indoor skating rink. Despite it being mid week and quite early in the morning it looked very popular and it was also quite noisy, belting out the latest chart tunes as the eager skaters whizzed round to the beats. I didn't go inside the skating rink but it is possible to see inside through the windows.

Around the four outer sides of the complex is where all of the shops are to be found. They are set out on two levels and these shops include book shops, clothing shops and general haberdashery retailers. I even spotted a Goth type clothing/accessory store that had a coffin propped up outside its outer wall, inside this coffin there was a skeleton - I hope it was fake!

There's not a huge amount of shops, probably less than 20 but what is there looks very interesting. They are small independent retailers unlike the chain stores that dominate the high street and I am sure that if you knew what you was looking for then you could pick up a bargain in one of the second hall record or book shops.

Also located within The Piece Hall is Halifax's main tourist information centre and a visitor centre, which along with an art gallery and a museum dominates an entire side of one of the floors. I found the museum very interesting although it is quite small. It has a very intimate feel to it with lots of old photographs of the town and like all good museums it also had a very friendly enthusiastic staff.

When I visited The Piece Hall it was pouring down with rain and the sheltered walkways gave some respite from the rain. I found it to be a very interesting place and if I am ever in Halifax again I will probably pay it another visit.


It is open at the following hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - 8am until 5.45pm
Thursday - 6.30am until 6.15pm
Friday - 8am until 6pm
Saturday - 6.30am until 6.45pm
Sunday - 10am until 5.45pm

The Piece Hall
Market Street
Halifax
HX1 1RE
Telephone: (01422) 321002
Fax: (01422) 349310

Summary: Dating from the 1770's this complex now houses shops