 In Town Hall Square, opposite the Town Hall, is a statue of John Bright, dated 1891, and the Rochdale War Memorial.Bright was a Rochdale-born orator, pacifist and Member of Parliament for Birmingham known for his campaigns to repeal the Corn Laws as well as his opposition to slavery in the United States and the Crimean War.Touchstones Rochdale art gallery and local studies centre is across The Esplanade.