Town Hall Conservation Area - Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

interesting oblique views of the rear of Le Mans Crescent. The openness of the land
west of Le Mans Crescent means that framed views of the civic building are lacking.
Fig.8: View east along Cheadle
Square towards Le Mans Crescent
4.5 Character and appearance
The character of the conservation area is defined by Victoria Square and the imposing
presence of the Town Hall and civic buildings on Le Mans Crescent. The buildings that
enclose the square are either in retail or civic use, and of differing dates, resulting in
buildings of contrasting appearance. The functional, rather “closed” appearance of the
civic buildings contrasts with the retail premises, where shop frontages have large areas
of window for displays and advertising, which create visually lively frontages.
Fig.9:Crompton Place retail development
on the east side of Victoria Square,
opened in 1971 as the Arndale Centre.
Architecturally, the two groups of buildings differ in terms of quality, with ashlar stone
and fine detailing used on the civic buildings to denote their status. There are a few brick
buildings such as the office on Queen Street (Fig.6) and 19 th century terraced buildings
on Oxford Street, now painted or rendered. Stone cladding is used on the post-war retail
stores, with Portland limestone on Newport Street. Other materials such as copper sheet
are used for mansard roofs.
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