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Town Hall, Manchester
Architect: Alfred Waterhouse (1866-1877)
Photograph: E. Smith (1957)
Source: RIBA British Architectural Library Photographs Collection

It is only in the last few decades that there has been a popular revival of Victorian architecture. Their previous unpopularity was due in part to their dark exteriors: within living memory, most Victorian buildings were soot covered, their colourful façades concealed. It was if someone had painted the town black.

Thus, Manchester Town Hall looks especially dour in this 1957 photograph by Edwin Smith. Yet despite the dreary tones, we can still see the vision of Waterhouse, and Manchester’s city fathers. The building commands everything around it: the double-decker bus is nowhere near as high as the entrance arches. The jagged profiles of gables, dormer windows and chimneys continue to captivate, and the tower, with its four great pinnacles and heavy spire, looks like a rocket about to launch.   

Manchester has now lovingly restored her town hall. Recognising the genius of Waterhouse’s design, once again it is the proud focus of the city. No longer black, the fine carving of the sandstone walls can be appreciated, and with shadows now visible, we able to reveal the wonderful plasticity of its forms.