Welcome to 15 Decades in 15 Months at Barnsley Civic. Each month, we will explore a different decade from our 150-year history. This month, we’re shining a spotlight on the 1870s.
Originally known as the Mechanics’ Institute and Public Hall, Barnsley Civic opened on Eldon Street in January 1878.
Mechanics’ institutes emerged across the country during the 19th century, offering affordable education to working people for just 2½ pence per week.
Barnsley’s Mechanics’ Institute was founded in 1837. It first leased an old theatre on Wellington Street for meetings and lectures. Prominent members included the brothers William, Charles and Henry Harvey: successful linen manufacturers, Quakers, and strong supporters of education and social reform.
In 1875, Henry Harvey along with other local benefactors, raised money to build new premises for the Institute. The aim was to give ordinary people in Barnsley better access to culture, science and the arts.
The new building included a library, classrooms and a billiard room for members, as well as a grand Public Hall with space for 2,000 people. A new public School of Arts and Crafts occupied the top floor. The total cost was £26,000, equivalent to about £4.1 million today.
Henry Harvey died in 1879, shortly after the building was completed. It was later renamed the Harvey Institute in his honour, and a carving of him still sits above the main entrance on Eldon Street.
After Henry’s death, the building passed to his brother Charles, who later gifted it to the Town Council in 1890.
True to its original purpose, Barnsley Civic continues to improve access to arts and culture for the people of Barnsley.
