Limehouse Town Hall
| Limehouse Town Hall | |
|
Middlesex | |
|---|---|
 Limehouse Town Hall | |
| Type: | Former town hall |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ36708108 |
| Location: | 51°30’44"N, 0°1’53"W |
| Town: | Commercial Road |
| Village: | Limehouse |
| History | |
| Built 1881 | |
| By: | Arthur and Christopher Harston |
| Former town hall | |
| Palazzo style | |
| Information | |
| Website: | limehousetownhall.co.uk |
Limehouse Town Hall is a former town hall building on Commercial Road in Limehouse, in south-easternmost Middlesex, deep within the metropolitan conurbation. It was built as a vestry hall for the parish in 1881, and though it ceased to serve that function after 19 years, it remained long afterwards an important public building.
The town hall is a Grade II listed building.[1]
History
The foundation stone for the building was laid by the churchwarden, James Rollinson, on 21 October 1879.[2][3] The building was designed Arthur and Christopher Harston in the Palazzo style[4] and built by J. H. Johnson[3] and was opened as the vestry hall of the Limehouse District on 29 March 1881.[2]
After the parish became a part of the 'Metropolitan Borough of Stepney' in 1900,[5] Limehouse Town Hall ceased the seat of local government and was used as offices.[6]
On 30 July 1909 the Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George made a polemical speech in the assembly room, attacking the House of Lords for its opposition to his "People's Budget". This speech was the origin of the phrase "To Limehouse", or "Limehousing", which meant an incendiary political speech.[7]
In 1965, the building was inherited by the new Tower Hamlets Council and was subsequently used as the National Museum of Labour History, until serving as the Wapping Neighbourhood Offices in the 1980s.[6]
It was placed on English Heritage's 'Heritage at Risk Register' in 2003.[6] After receiving a grant from English Heritage, it was restored and re-opened as a community centre in April 2012.[6]
Features and current use
The building has a number of offices located below a grand assembly room.[6] It currently houses the Limehouse Town Hall Consortium Trust, which has a long lease on the building from Tower Hamlets Council, and is home to several groups, such as the Boxing Club (this is no longer a boxing club, but a group that hires spaces and arranges occasional events, mostly to raise money for the upkeep of the venue),[8] and some self-help bicycle maintenance workshops.[9]
The building is not generally open to the public, but participates in Open House London for guided tours of the building.[4]
Outside links
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1240047: Limehouse Town Hall (Grade II listing)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 'London's Town Halls' (Historic England), page 184
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Limehouse Town Hall Archives". A London Inheritance. https://alondoninheritance.com/tag/limehouse-town-hall/. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Limehouse Town Hall". Open House London. https://openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk/listings/3601. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ↑ Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Limehouse Town Hall springs back to like after leaky roof is fixed". East London Advertiser. 12 April 2012. https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/limehouse-town-hall-springs-back-to-like-after-leaky-roof-is-fixed-1-1347248. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ↑ "Limehousing". Take our word for it. 24 January 2000. http://www.takeourword.com/Issue070.html. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
- ↑ "The Boxing Club". http://the-boxing-club.blogspot.co.uk/. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ↑ "Bicycle Maintenance Workshop". Tower Hamlets Wheelers. http://www.towerhamletswheelers.org.uk/workshop. Retrieved 9 April 2020.