Halifax, England
Halifax is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, northern England, with a population of about 90,000. It is well known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward. Halifax Piece Hall was the cloth hall where the trading of the woollen cloth pieces was done. It was opened on January 1, 1779, was only open for business for two hours on a Saturday morning, and contained 315 merchants' trading rooms. After the mechanisation of the cloth industry, the Piece Hall was used as a public market and still is today. The Calderdale Industrial Museum is housed within the Piece Hall. The 'Eureka' family science museum is also located in the town.Since 1974 Halifax has been the centre of the metropolitan district of Calderdale, part of the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire. Halifax has given its name to a bank which started as a building society in the town.
Halifax was also notorious for the 'Halifax gibbet', an early form of the guillotine used to execute criminals by decapitation, and last used in 1650. A replica of the gibbet has been erected in Gibbet Street.
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