THE year was 1855. The Crimean War was still raging, Queen Victoria was part way through her long reign, and 20,000 people gathered in Bolton to see the new Market Hall opened.

It was a handsome monument to the architecture of the day - vast decorated iron struts, glass panels in the roof and huge Corinthian columns. The cost was believed to be around £100,000, but some of the poorer folk in Bolton didn't believe that much money existed.

It was the first great step in the plan to improve the town, brought in mainly thanks to the influence of the then Mayor of Bolton, Mr Thomas Lever Rushton.

For many, though, the idea of an inside market was a strange one. After all, Bolton had had markets for several centuries, since King Henry III granted a Charter to William de Ferrars, Earl of Derby in 1251.

The town's main market was held, naturally, by the Market Cross in Churchgate - where a more modern cross now stands as a sentry to time.

Then, the Market Cross was the community centre of the township. Not only was it where all the proclamations and announcements were made, it was where traders of all kinds gathered . . . and gathered.

The Industrial Revolution forced the population of towns like Bolton to mushroom, and the number of traders dramatically grew with it. The market became unwieldy for this area, impeding traffic and causing problems at one of Bolton's main gateways.

It spread outwards, crowding the top of Bradshawgate and along Deansgate. It became so huge that the site of the old bowling green became designated as the Market Square. Half a century later, this became the Town Hall Square, today's Victoria Square.

The town's burghers decided to act, and identified a large, uneven plot of land off Deansgate. This was mainly occupied by buildings of the humblest kind, including a large number of cramped, insanitary dwellings rejoicing in names like "Dog Row".

Bolton was a town on the up, and demolition and sanitation went hand in hand. The site was cleared, and for local people, there was a new occupation - watching the Market Hall grow to reality.

On Wednesday, December 19, 1855, a grand procession showed how the local Freemasons, Oddfellows, Ancient Shepherds and other Friendly Societies backed the project. The people just gawped.

Inside, stalls of all kinds were strewn with goods, boxes and barrels, placed between the columns in this impressive edifice. A new home had been found for the farmer's produce, the butcher's meat, the greengrocery, smallwares and pedlars' commodities.

This picturesque medley of traders created what was heralded as "the finest market hall in the country", and it was an immediate success. The Market Hall became a focal point for the daily commercial, and social, life of local people as the town grew and changed.

Probably the oldest business there still exists today. Hool's, the herballists, began life thanks to the enterprise of Richard Lawrence Hool in 1872.

"He made his own tinctures and medicines and sold loose herbs," explained Lawrence Hool, the current owner.

His grandfather, John Hool, succeeded Richard. His father, John, succeeded him and Lawrence has now been joined by his 23-year-old daughter Jane in running the busy stall.

And through many social changes - new monarchs, two world wars, the decline of the textile and engineering industries, and far-reaching changes to Bolton's population - the Market Hall has remained intrinsically the same.

When the town decided to take a huge leap into the commercial 20th century and open a central multi-million shopping complex in the 1980s, there were no plans to destroy the Market Hall.

Instead, it would become the centrepiece, a comfortable retail marriage with The Market Place, blending the old and the new. The ancient building was renovated and re-fitted.

Some would argue that it changed right then from being a traditional Lancashire market to being a modern market hall. But, others simply adapted to the changes, and prospered.

Today, the stalls are well spaced apart, brightly lit without a gas mantle in sight.

Traditional draperies and pills rub shoulders with cosmetics and cake shops and, as shoppers move through the Market Hall into the Market Place, time and retail trends are blurred.

But the Market Hall is still a unique draw. Visitors come from the Lake District to buy a special cake mould, from North Manchester to visit their favourite butcher.

The wide aisles and facilities on one-level make life easier for prams and wheelchairs, and there is the attraction of dealing with individuals who actually own the business as opposed to supermarket staff who just work there.

Now, more changes are planned, probably the most radical in its long and illustrious history.

But how ironic it would be if, as a unique way of "celebrating" its 150th anniversary next year, the Market Hall as Boltonians have always known it finally disappeared forever, in the name of commerce.

What do YOU think? Write to: Letters to the Editor, Bolton Evening News, Newspaper House, Churchgate, Bolton BL1 1DE. Emails to Drop a line...letters@boltoneveningnews.co.uk or fax to 01204-365068.