Withington Town Hall, also known as West Didsbury Town Hall, is a former municipal building on Lapwing Lane, Withington, a town in Greater Manchester in England. The building, which served as the offices and meeting place of Withington Urban District Council and now accommodates a firm of solicitors, is a Grade II listed building.[1]
Following significant population growth, largely associated with the textile industry, a local board of health was established in Withington in 1876.[2] The new board decided to commission a venue for their meetings: the site they selected, on the south side of Lapwing Lane, was occupied by Lapwing Farm.[3] The new building was designed by Lawrence Booth in the Baroque Revival style, built in buff brick with stone dressings at a cost of £2,000 and was completed in 1881.[4] In 1882, stables and various outbuildings were added, to designs by Joseph Swarbrick.[5][6]
In 1894, the board was succeeded by an urban district council, which made the building its town hall.[7] The building ceased to be the local seat of government in 1904, when the district was annexed by the City of Manchester.[8]
The building was used as a rest centre with capacity for 300 people during the Manchester Blitz in the Second World War.[9] After the war the building remained a venue for public meetings and for dances and concerts.[10]
Manchester City Council continued to use it to deliver services until 1990, when it was declared surplus to requirements, sold for commercial use and converted into offices.[11][12] After being extensively refurbished for an events management business, APS, in 2007,[13] it went on to become the home of a firm of solicitors, Pabla and Pabla, in 2014.[14][15]
The building is constructed of buff brick, with red brick and terracotta dressings, and a slate roof. It has a rectangular plan, with two storeys and five bays, forming a symmetrical composition. Ornamentation includes fluted pilasters, and the first floor has large windows with elliptical heads. The central bay features a round headed doorway, with voussoirs and a keystone, flanked by brackets supporting a pediment. A carved crest of the Mosley family, who were the lords of the manor, can be seen in the pediment above the doorway. The central bay also features a gable with a terracotta roundel, under a band with the wording "LOCAL BOARD OFFICES". Above this is a pyramidal turret with a clock, topped by a weather vane. Inside, there is a large staircase with an open well, and a former assembly hall on the first floor.[1]