The 19th July 2022 will long be remembered in the UK for being one of the days of the brutal heatwave with temperatures peaking at around 42 °C. With this in mind,, I entered the building in the relative coolness of sunrise, aiming to be finished before the air fully heated up for my drive back home. being inside the building was comfortable, as I climbed out of the broken window, the heat was evident - thank goodness for air conditioning in modern cars. 

 

The building dates back to the 1890s and was constructed in the Renaissance Revival style. The offices were built on the site of the old court, police station and lock-ups, which had earlier moved operations to the new Town Hall on its completion in 1889. Originally the Dewsbury Union's main office, it became the Kirklees Council register office before closing for good in 2012 - after serving the local community in terms of being a register office for births, marriages and deaths -  as services were transferred to a more suitable building at Dewsbury Town hall. It was subsequently Grade II listed in Sept 2021. 

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An application to turn the grade II-listed building back into use as a hostel were rejected in 2018 and as a result the building continued to fall into a state of disrepair. However, despite the decay and poor state of the interior, many original features still remain. Centre piece is the elaborate staircase with its decorative balustrade. There are mosaic floors, moulded architraves along with etched-glass door screens [a particular favourite of mine!].