Barnsley grew from a hilltop settlement and the Cooper Gallery sits in the middle of it all. The area was first referred to as Old Town in 1280 and there has been a church on the site of St Marys opposite the gallery, since Saxon times.
The Cooper Gallery is on Church Street, part of the original centre of Old Town. In the Middle Ages Church Street developed into a bustling mixture of shops, businesses and private houses where tradesmen lived with their families. Some buildings from the 15th century still exist and are the oldest in Barnsley town centre. These include Ashley Jackson's studio and Artcrafts.
By the 19th century the Cooper Gallery was at the centre of a thriving community of terraced houses, pubs, schools and a fire station. Lots of workers employed in local industries, such as McLintock?s Utilitas quilt factory, lived around here.
Across Church Street from the gallery was the Old Manor House, where several notable Barnsley families lived. In 1932, it was demolished to make way for the Mining and Technical College, which is now the University Campus Barnsley. And of course there is the splendid Town Hall, which was opened in 1933 by Edward, Prince of Wales.
By the mid 1930s, the area around the gallery had been transformed from a narrow gateway into a town, which was dominated by trade, shops and businesses. Church Street today with its imposing civic architecture is almost unchanged. And the Cooper Gallery is still in the middle of it all.
