Thomas Bradley is buried in the churchyard at the front of Square Chapel. It is one of the few gravestones still in situ around Square Chapel. He even has a plaque in his name on the wall in commemoration of his service as civil engineer with the Calder and Hebble Navigation Company. Thomas was baptised in 1751 at Halifax Parish Church. His father’s name is recorded as William Bradley. At a very young age he was apprenticed in 1758 to Thomas Bradley (possibly an uncle) who was a joiner in Halifax.
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Thomas went on to design buildings and became a civil engineer. There are a number of buildings attributed to Thomas although there are some doubts raised in more recent years that he was given the credit when he maybe was not the architect. Warley House was built in 1769. It’s design is attributed to a Thomas Bradley. This could have been the older Thomas Bradley whom the young Thomas Bradley (aged about 18) had been an apprentice to. Thomas Bradley is also thought to have designed Square Chapel which was built in 1774, again Thomas was still quite young.
The plaque on the wall mentions that he designed Square Chapel. There is a contemporary drawing of Square Chapel signed by T. Bradley, delin (meaning delinator or designer).
Photograph of Plaque on Square Chapel. By Jude Dobson
For many years, it was thought Thomas Bradley was the local man who designed the Piece Hall (also known as the Manufacturers Hall). Although opened in 1779, the Piece Hall project began around 1774 when an invitation was made for designs to be submitted to a committee. In White’s Directory of 1837 a description of the Piece Hall claims that it was built from a design by Thomas Bradley. There was even a plaque in the Piece Hall commemorating Thomas Bradley as the designer following the refurbishment in the 1970’s. In more recent years, this has been disputed. It was known that two brothers from Manchester called Hope built the Piece Hall but some commentators believed they were also the architects.
During the latest refurbishment, another theory emerged by local historian Steven Gee who researched Leeds newspaper articles concerning the committee planning process. The designs submitted to the committee were voted upon and another local man called John Aked received the most votes for his design of the Piece Hall. So Thomas Bradley may not have designed the Piece Hall after all.
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Thomas Bradley married Jane Appleyard by license at Halifax Parish Church on boxing day in 1776. It was recorded that Thomas aged 24 was a joiner of this parish and Jane aged 23 was resident in Skircoat. They went on to have one son named William Bradley who was baptised at the Parish Church on 16 October 1777.
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We can see an example of Thomas's signature on the below document.
Signature of Thomas Bradley on Co-partnership agreement for the Halifax Journal and Yorkshire and Lancashire Advertiser, 26 May 1802. West Yorkshire Archive Service Calderdale, RU:517
The design of Crownest House (Crow Nest) in Lightcliffe, the seat of William Walker Esquire, is also attributed to Thomas Bradley. It was built in 1788 and was featured in a book about fine Georgian houses published in 1802 called ‘The New Vitruvius Brittanicus’. A later commentator pointed out that it was almost an exact copy of Pye Nest House which was designed by well-known York architect John Carr.
Image of Crow Nest from Crow Nest Estate Auction Papers 1867. Calderdale Libraries
Thomas started working as engineer for the Calder and Hebble Navigation Company in 1792 and worked for the company until the year before his death. He was paid a very handsome salary raising up to £500 a year with occasional bonus payments. He was responsible for building the new Fall Ing cut and locks in Wakefield and in 1824-8 oversaw the building of the Halifax branch of the Calder and Hebble Navigation. This took the canal into a basin near the town centre from Salterhebble, a rise of over 100 feet and 14 locks over 1¾ miles. It was abandoned in the 1940’s and would have terminated where Mackintosh’s factory now stands behind the train station.
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Documents in the West Yorkshire Archive suggest Thomas owned properties and was one of the constables in Halifax between 1806-7. Anne Lister consulted Thomas Bradley about rebuilding a bridge as part of a new road on part of her estate in the 1820’s.
Anne Lister diary page, Apr 1821. West Yorkshire Archive Service Calderdale, SH:7/ML/E/5/0021
Thomas is also mentioned in relation to other estate matters such as replacing lead pipes and buying fir wood from Lower Brae wood. Thomas Bradley is recorded in trade directories at Union Street in Halifax and in the Poor Rate Assessment (tax) records as living at New Road. He died on 4 February 1833 aged 81 years and is buried with his wife (who died aged 61 years in 1814) and other family members at Square (Independent) Chapel. The memorial inscription also records his appointment as civil engineer with Calder and Hebble Navigation Company in 1792 and that he ‘discharged his duties of that situation with great ability as well as the utmost integrity and zeal of the interest of his employers’.
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For more information about Thomas's son William see:
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Researched by Jude Dobson
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