Chadderton - Landmarks

Landmarks

Chadderton Town Hall was the seat of Chadderton Urban District Council. It is Chadderton's second town hall, the first was the former Chadderton Lyceum building (demolished in 1975). The current town hall, Chadderton's first purpose built municipal building, was designed by Taylor and Simister of Oldham, and was opened in 1913 by Herbert Wolstencroft JP, the then chairman of Chadderton Urban District Council. The architectural style was intended to have "a broad and strong treatment of the English Renaissance". It features "charming gardens and a beautifully renovated ballroom". Since 2007, Chadderton Town Hall has housed the Oldham Register Office, the civil registration authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It is a licensed venue for marriage ceremonies, and holds records of births, marriages and deaths which have taken place in what is now the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham from 1837 to the present.

Foxdenton Hall is a two-storey Georgian mansion and former manor house, with an English garden wall bond exterior and its own private gardens. The original Hall was erected in the mid-15th century as a home for the Radclyffes, who had acquired the title of joint Lords of the Manor with the Asshetons of Chadderton, through marriage. This Foxdenton Hall was demolished to make way for a second Hall, built in 1620. The ground floor of that second Hall now forms the basement of the present Hall, built in 1700. The building is described as "a dignified early Georgian house, particularly rare in this part of the country". The Radclyffes moved out of Foxdenton Hall in the late 18th century, favouring properties they had purchased in Dorset, although they still maintained ownership. Foxdenton Hall and the adjoining Foxdenton Park were leased to Chadderton Council by the Radclyffes in 1922, when they opened to the public. In 1960 the council took over ownership of the Hall, by which time it was in a state of disrepair. Following protest about funding and the condition of the building, Foxdenton Hall was restored in 1965.

Chadderton War Memorial is located outside Chadderton Town Hall, and was originally erected "in honour of the men of Chadderton who made the supreme sacrifice and in grateful remembrance of all who served their county" during the First World War, but later, the Second World War. It is a granite obelisk fronted by three steps. At the front on a short plinth stands a bronze figure of an ordinary soldier, holding a rifle in his right hand. It was designed by Taylor and Simister and sculpted by Albert Toft. Chadderton War Memorial was commissioned by the Chadderton War Memorial Committee and unveiled on 8 October 1921 by Councillor Ernest Kempsey.

Chadderton Hall Park is a public park by the River Irk in the north of Chadderton, spanning an area of over 15 acres (6 ha), in what were once the gardens of the manorial Chadderton Hall. At the end of the 19th century they were leased to Joseph Ball, who transformed the hall and grounds into a pleasure garden, complete with a boating lake and a menagerie. The hall was demolished in 1939. The park is now owned by Oldham Council, the local authority, and was opened to the public in 1956. It was awarded Green Flag status in 2006.