Latest bid made to revamp Halifax Borough Market as part of £4.4m Future High Streets Fund

Calderdale Council has applied for listed building consent for the next stage of work to improve the Victorian market hall.

It wants to create an open area around the market’s clock, with scope to introduce some wooden seating.

It has applied to reinstate timber panelling and buttress partitions around the clock, and put some stone flags down to replace a removed concrete slab in the area.

In a supporting statement with the application, the council’s buildings and estate team said: “The focal point of the interior is a superb octagonal dome, or lantern, supported by decorative cast iron pillars rising 60 feet above floor level.

“An ornamental clock, which can be seen from most parts of the market, is at the centre of the dome – this combined feature is a superb example of Victorian grandeur.”

The clock is under the market’s central stall but the business there is being relocated to another stall, says the council.

In its original setting, the clock was surrounded by an octagonal timber screen of raised and fielded panels, the eight facets providing the base for eight individual stalls which radiate out from the panelling.

The proposals intend to retain small areas of original panelling and reinstate similar detailing in timber with relief panels, says the supporting statement.

Once the trader is relocated, the central stall will be removed and to expose the clock and its supporting structure.

The ongoing renovation and restoration has partly been funded by £4.4 million from the Future High Street Fund.