Historic Old Town Hall building that’s not so historic – a blunder by experts?

A WARRINGTON town centre restaurant’s decision to carry out a refurbishment has revealed what appears to be a blunder by experts more than 40 years ago.

The Grade 2 Listed Old Town Hall building in the Old Market Place – now the Ask Italian restaurant – shouldn’t be a listed building at all!

Although the original building was undoubtedly historic – it was built in the 1800s and was the original Town Hall – it was demolished in the 1980s when Golden Square was built and was replaced by a replica.

The error was discovered when Amrik Suree, of Ask Italian, applied for Listed Building Consent to repaint the building and replace signage.
Warrington Borough Council conservation officer Daniel Longman said in a report to planners: “The borough council had been incorporated in 1847 and its original accommodation was in a building on the west side of Market Place.
“This building known as the Old Town Hall, was demolished and rebuilt as a replica in the 1980s as part of the Golden Square development.
“The Historic England listing appears to be incorrect and has failed to be updated since the time of demolition. With the arrival of this application, I have now formally requested the current building to be removed from the list due to its lack of architectural or historic significance.
“However, at this time this building technically remains listed. Therefore I must formally state that the proposals will not harm the building’s significance and I have no objection to this application.”
As a result, council planning chiefs have approved the Listed Building application.
*Historic England is the public body that looks after the country’s historic environment