A survey of St Georges Square and other Huddersfield landmarks

The Victorian façade of the Huddersfield Railway station is a truly substantial statement of status for the town.  Considering that this town in the 17th century was perhaps no more than a simple cross roads with a small number of dwellings and probably a number of simple coaching inns, the massive growth of the town during - and following the industrial revolution, is reflected in the statement of wealth in many of the buildings within this fine square....

Lord Harold Wilson (1916 - 1995) of Rievaulx, 
UK Prime Minister from 1963 to 1974 (Non-consecutively)

In addition to the beautiful St Georges' Hotel to the East, the remaining buildings are all dated around the mid 19th century, from the Britannia Buildings (which once housed the Huddersfield Building Society) on the west (as per the photograph below), to the Lion Buildings on the South side of the square.
Whilst there has been limited additional work to the square since it's original construction over the years, this has pretty much been limited to the erection of the statue of the famous Huddersfield "Man made good" in Harold Wilson. -  Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976.

The only other major change to the square is that general traffic no longer drives round to the front of the station (as it is encased as a pedestrian only zone), but is limited to access on the far eastern flank, for a passenger drop off zone and a longer period parking zone on the far eastern side of the station that used to be used as a rail goods shunting yard.

The western flank is used by buses only, which pass from right to left in front of the Britannia buildings shown here;

As mentioned above, the square is generally intended for pedestrian priority, which is emphasised by the types of paving used throughout this zone.  The metallised 'asphalt' road surface is clearly marked with various symbolism and markings of rules for vehicular drivers to abide with.  However, pedestrians are guided not by road markings, but by types of pavings used.  This is often (it appears), enhanced both aesthetically and symbolically with the directions and styles of the paving stones or "setts" used.   I find it interesting that pedestrian users of the square are gently guided by these patterns, (examples of those shown above), to mark major access and egress routes.