Who would have imagined an Italian looking market, built in the 18th century, in Yorkshire? Well, this is exactly what Piece Hall in Halifax is. It is called ‘piece’ because cloth was sold there. Yorkshire was an important clothing making centre for hundreds of years, with cloth being exported all over Europe and beyond. See more on their website. There is also a museum besides the Piece Hall, so one can easily spend the whole day there.
The hall is huge, there are dozens of shops, a restaurant, a cocktail bar, a pub, and a fascinating visitor centre. It’s a wonderful place. We were thinking of having a look around and go somewhere else for lunch, but ended up staying there because it was so nice.
The visitor centre is free and, while not big, it is worth having a look. The staff explained how cloth was sold, in a couple of minutes, but they are happy to answer any questions one might have.
These are the types of cloth made in Yorkshire and it was really interesting to feel how different they are. I read about cloth production in my studies, but I didn’t have a chance to touch these types of cloths before. They are really distinctive.
There are shops all around the market square.
We stopped for lunch in one of those cute green booths. I should mention that they are dog friendly, so you can have lunch with your little one.
We had lovely mocktails.
The vegan options were delicious and quite a few of them. I wasn’t expecting that, so I was very happy.
They also had this gorgeous vegan crumble with custard. It was fantastic, a mix of apples with rhubarb, which was to be expected in Yorkshire.
This was the view from the booth. The booths can be heated, but it was fine without the heater on when we went there. Anyway, as this option is available, it makes these suitable for cooler days as well.
Piece Hall is inn Halifax at Blackledge, HX1 1RE. There are plenty of cheap car parks in the city, around £3 for the day.
I keep trying to convince hubby that life doesn’t stop when you hit the Cotswolds and there are some great places to visit ‘up north!’. I haven’t been very successful to date, however now that we have both more or less agreed that overseas travel isn’t something we yearn for any more, perhaps seeing some more of our own country will be on the cards, especially when he no longer has to work full time. On a nice day, there would be plenty in that lovely square to keep us occupied all day, especially if there are some good restaurants and coffee shops as well. Great photos really showed it off at its best, thanks for sharing 🙂
I think it’s a missed opportunity not to visit the north. I’ve been from north of Inverness to Cornwall and Brighton – Hastings. I think it would be a shame not to visit, UK is beautiful.
These days we are spending more time outdoors, so I will share more beautiful places to visit. Today I will blog about a lovely church (I’ve been to 2 and to a stately home, but I will post about each one on its own).
This looks like a great place to spend the day! I like that the museum includes “hands on” exhibits like the cloth.
The food looks delicious. What is the item on the plate with the fries/chips?
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That’s an open sandwich with houmous, topped with grilled veggies. We love houmous and often order it even if we had some on the same day. :))