THE magnificent structure of the old Town Hall building in Preston, is the focus of this week's recollections after receiving these amazing photos taken by Citizen reader, Jim Cowell.

Jim, of Clifford Avenue, took these wonderful snaps of the Town Hall during the raging fire in 1947 which ripped through the clock tower and destroyed most of the building, leaving all but the ground floor in ruins.

With its grand archways, clock spire and stepped entrance, the towering Gothic-revival structure was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and built between 1862 and 1867.

The splendid civic building dominated Fishergate with it's entrance on Cheapside and was a regular meeting point for many Prestonians.

Jim's picture above was taken from Glovers Court facing Fishergate, during the fire. He said: "To the left of the picture is the entrance to the American Red Cross canteen which was like a home from home, during the war, to countless American servicemen."

Jim recalls the small white shop behind the lorry on the picture below was Redmans Bacon shop, a popular shop with many Prestonians.

In 1962, the remains of the structure were pulled down to make way for the office complex Crystal House.

Today, the Town Hall is in the old municipal buildings, in Lancaster Road, opposite the Post Office and next to the retro-Grecian style Harris Museum and Library, which was built between 1882 and 1893 by local designer James Hibbert.

Of course, the former Town Hall was not the first civic building to grace the town centre of Preston. In pre-industrial Preston, an arched towered Town Hall stood in Cheapside adjoining the marketplace - now the flag market and the site of the 1926 Cenotaph - until it collapsed in 1780. Two years later, a new clock towered Town Hall was constructed and stood for little more than 75 years until it was demolished in 1860, to make way for a finer building in keeping with the town's new found wealth and civic pride.

And so was built the very grand Town Hall building pictured above, a jewel in the heart of Preston which was brought to the ground a century after the first stone was laid.

If you have an interesting picture from the past, why not share it with other Citizen readers. Write to us at Citizen Newsdesk, 3 Winckley Court, Chapel Street, Preston, PR1 3JJ.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.