Royton Town Hall Refurb. Update July 2023

Marie and I recently made a second visit to the town hall to see how works are progressing and here are some photos we took. We started at the rear of the building where the old 1960/70s extension has now been completely removed.

As the ground has been excavated to check the existing and to prepare for new foundations you can see plenty of the famous Royton sands.

The photo below shows where new foundations are to go down which will support a new extension out from the old library section.

Works to remove all the old plaster and false ceilings in the old library area is well underway.

Moving upstairs we can see plaster has false ceilings have also been removed ready to be cleaned up and restored.

Stripping back to the original brickwork has also been necessary to identify any structural problems and the photo below shows a significant crack within this room where the building has shifted over the years. If left this would cause major problems but it will be properly repaired and strengthened.

Water has been seeping through the roof for many years hidden by the layers of plaster and wall coverings. This will also be repaired making the building watertight again.

These cast iron ventilation panels probably haven’t seen the light of day for decades, these will be cleaned up and left in place.

This part of the original ceiling and covings also hasn’t seen light for very many years but will soon be restored to its former glory for all to see and enjoy.

The old council chamber is now ready for repairs and restoration. Images below show the room itself, the ceiling, original doors and two of the windows which will be replaced with specially built aluminium units in the original style.

One of the many surviving original fixtures, a brass door handle in the old council chamber.

The photo below shows a section of scaffolding due to be lifted onto the roof to help contractor safely carry out the roof replacement works.

We hope you find these picture interesting and we will be posting more updates soon. Use the links below to see photos from other visits.

Best regards, Steve and Marie

Update May 2003 – Update December 2003