Sitting on The Green in Guiseley, West Yorkshire, Guiseley Theatre occupies a neoclassical building that has served the local community in several different capacities since its opening in 1867. Originally constructed as a civic headquarters, the ashlar stone structure was designed by Knowles and Wilcock of Bradford and cost £3,000 to build. Its symmetrical seven-bay frontage faces The Green, with mullioned windows on the first floor and a cornice and central gable containing a quatrefoil at roof level. A carved semi-circular panel above one of the doorways depicts a raised arm holding a sheaf of barley, taken from the coat of arms of Matthew Thompson, the local MP who funded most of the construction.
From Civic Hall to Theatre
The foundation stone was laid on 7 July 1867 by Eliza Thompson, the eldest daughter of Matthew Thompson, and the building opened on 26 December 1867 with a performance of Handel’s The Messiah. Thompson handed the deeds to the chairman of the local board of health in March 1868, with notable figures including Lord Frederick Cavendish, Canon James Atlay, and the Mayor of Bradford, James Law, in attendance. As Guiseley’s population grew, largely through the woollen industry, the area became an urban district in 1894 with the building as its headquarters. The Guiseley Amateur Operatic Society used the hall for public performances in the early 1900s, staging Les cloches de Corneville in 1903, The Bohemian Girl in 1904, and The Mikado in 1905. The building briefly operated as a cinema in 1913 before being converted into an auxiliary hospital for wounded servicemen in August 1916. During the Second World War it housed Air Raid Precautions wardens and was fitted with an air raid siren.
Later History and Present Use
The town hall’s role as a local government seat ended in 1937 when the enlarged Aireborough District Council moved to Micklefield House in Rawdon. Following local government reorganisation in 1974, the building passed to Leeds City Council. It is now used as a theatre, continuing the tradition of public performance that the Guiseley Amateur Operatic Society established in the building well over a century ago.