Origins
The County Council of the West Riding of Yorkshire was created by the Local Government Act 1888. Its jurisdiction was over a new administrative county covering the West Riding of Yorkshire excluding a number of county boroughs. Its first meeting was held in February 1889 in Wakefield Town Hall, at the invitation of the Borough Council. For a permanent home the choice was between Leeds and Wakefield; much debate and correspondence resulted, in 1892, in the choice of Wakefield.
The site chosen for the new County Hall was that of Rishworth House on Bond Street, a gentleman's house of 1812 bought by the West Riding Quarter Sessions in 1878. The County Council had received Rishworth House at its creation and used it for committee rooms, offices and a residence for the Deputy Clerk.
In commissioning a new home, the County Council held an open architectural competition, instructing competitors to prefer "the style of architecture will be left to the competitors but the Queen Anne or Renaissance School of Architecture appears suited to an old town like Wakefield". The winning design was by James S Gibson, who proposed a Gothic design. Apart from minor modifications, such as the installation of electrical lighting his plan was effected. Later a tower was added to the plan.
The contract for the building of the hall, with Messrs. Armitage and Hodgson of Leeds contained a fair wages clause and a ban on subcontracting to employees in sweated trades.
County Hall was built in the four years from 1894 and opened by the Marquess of Ripon on 22 February 1898.
New wings were added to the original building between 1912 and 1915 by George Crook of Wakefield, but seamlessly matching Gibson's original design.
Read more about this topic: County Hall, Wakefield
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