People’s Hall and School Extension, Prestwich Street (late Dudley Street), Denton

OPENING OF THE PEOPLE’S HALL AT DENTON The opening of new classrooms and of the hall by Mr Peacock MP took place on Saturday afternoon.  The proportions of the People’s Hall are 90 feet by 40 feet and the design is very simple and free from anything like ostentatious decoration. The interior walls are all of brick, variety being secured by a dado of the same material glazed 6 feet high. The warmth of colour is relieved by the contrast of the varnished pitch pine of the ceiling and gallery. Behind the platform are rooms furnished with all necessary appliances for carrying on cookery classes. The hall will comfortably seat 1,200 persons on the floor and there is additional space in the gallery for 150 more. The contractor is Mr J Clayton of Denton Sawmills, and the work has been carefully executed in every department of both the school and the hall. …  The hall will used as a drill-room for the children, and will also contain a portable gymnasium. It is intended shortly to hold within its walls evening classes for study and recreation and would be available on equal terms for the meetings of all political parties. [Manchester Guardian 19 July 1886 page 5]

The immense importance of physical exercise and gymnastics is acknowledged in all the best elementary schools of the land, and has long been proved in the public schools. The new buildings have been designed and carried out with great skill, judgement and energy by the architects, Messrs J W and R F Beaumont of Manchester and London, and their in the two difficult departments of acoustics and ventilation have been very successful. - Lawrence Scott [Manchester Guardian 21 July 1886 page 7]

Instruction given in the original schools was free and non-denominational, notwithstanding their proximity to the Unitarian chapel. In order to satisfy increasing demand for school places, the managers soon found it necessary to consider extension. In so doing, Lawrence Scott noted that that the village of Denton lacked a public hall, in spite of the increased population over the previous twenty years. The scheme thus included a multi-purpose “People’s Hall” intended as much for the people of Denton as for the uses of the school, in addition to classroom accommodation for 350 additional children. Besides the new hall, recreation facilities and lawn tennis courts were also provided on adjacent ground.

Opened on 17 July 1886, in 1908 the hall was converted into a cinema, which was noted for the quality of its sound. The cinema closed in 1958 and subsequently it became a roller skating rink. It was demolished in 2002 for the Crown Point North Shopping Park.

Reference    Manchester Guardian 19 July 1886 page 5- opening
Reference    Manchester Guardian 21 July 1886 page 7 – correspondence from Lawrence Scott