The Halifax Borough market

Halifax Borough Market is a Victorian covered market. The market occupies a town centre site between Southgate, Albion Street and Market Street. The glass and wrought iron covered marketplace, surrounded by stone built shops and accommodation, was designed by Local architects Joseph and John Leeming, built between 1891 and 1896 and opened by the future King George V and Queen Mary. The design included three public houses on the Market Street side, and one on Southgate, 16 interior and 6 external fishmongers' shops on Albion Street with the remaining exterior shops all being butchers' shops. The award-winning market is open six days a week with up to  125 market stalls. 
As constructed, a  5,850 m² (7,000 square yard) canopy of glass and wrought iron covers the space between ornate four storey stone buildings, topped by baroque turrets, on Southgate and Market Street, and single storey stone shops on the other sides. The multi-storey buildings contain living quarters, originally for market traders and managers. Water was originally drawn from a well near the Market Street entrance. There were originally forty three outward facing shops, all butcher's, in the stone buildings, with the exception of Albion Street where there was a fish market, and four public houses on Market Street and Southgate At the centre of the market an 18-metre (60 ft) high octagonal lantern is supported by decorative cast iron columns. Below the lantern a decorative clock was originally visible from most parts of the market, although now obscured by taller stalls. Flagstones used for flooring in the market, still in good condition, came from Solomon Marshall's quarry at Southowram, a business which has since grown into Marshalls plc. The slope of the site is accommodated without the use of steps. 

The building's stonework was cleaned in 1973, the same year that Southgate was made into a pedestrian area, with the road raised to pavement level. 

In 1987 the Civic Trust gave the market an award for its renovated Victorian shop fronts, commenting that the market has "an elegance seldom seen on such a grand scale".

In 1993 the central clock, often used as a rendezvous point, was refurbished using more than fifty square feet of gold leaf. 

The market operates six days a week with about 125 stalls and won the title of best market by the National Association of British Market Authorities in 2008. A centenary celebration was held in 1996, coinciding with Great British Market Week between 19 and 26 May. In 2022/23 a comprehensive scheme of improvement and restoration to make the market suitable for another dentury was ongoing.

Information from Calderdale MBC and Malcolm Bull’s Calderdale Companion 

http://www.halifaxboroughmarket.co.uk