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Origin and history

The Keighley Hall is a party hall built between 1921 and 1922 in Poix-du-Nord, Hauts-de-France. This Georgian-style monument was erected thanks to a subscription launched by the English city of Keighley, which adopted Poix du Nord after the heavy German bombings of the First World War. These attacks killed 58 civilians and destroyed much of the city. The building, designed by English architects William Arthur and William Hampden Sugden, was inaugurated on June 5, 1922, the day Poix du Nord received the Cross of War.

The architectural design of the Keighley Hall combines brick and stucco, with small tiled bays and a bell tower evoking English city hotels. His asymmetrical design, including a receding pavilion for access to the gallery, recalls the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement. The land was offered by the commune of Poix-du-Nord, while the works were followed locally. The building, located in Talma Square, was listed as historic monuments on 25 February 2021 for its heritage and symbolic value, commemorating the Franco-British ties born of the war.

The origin of the Keighley Hall is closely linked to post-First World War international solidarity. The mayors of North Poix and Keighley, already linked before the conflict, formalized this partnership in 1920. The English subscription allowed not only to rebuild a party hall, but also to celebrate the memory of the 58 civilians and 95 soldiers who had been killed in the war. The building, still a communal property, today embodies this heritage shared between France and the United Kingdom.

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