Chiswick Town Hall
| Chiswick Town Hall | |
|
Middlesex | |
|---|---|
 Chiswick Town Hall | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ20527833 |
| Location: | 51°29’28"N, 0°15’56"W |
| Town: | Chiswick |
| History | |
| Address: | Heathfield Terrace |
| Built 1876 | |
| By: | William Joshua Trehearne |
| Italianate | |
| Information | |
Chiswick Town Hall is the former town hall for Chiswick in Middlesex, and stands on Heathfield Terrace in Chiswick, facing Turnham Green. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]
History
In the mid 19th century, the Vestry meeting for the Parish of St Nicholas, Chiswick had met in a variety of different locations including, latterly, the Boys' National School at Turnham Green.[2] After parish leaders found that this arrangement was inadequate for their needs, they elected to construct a purpose-built vestry hall: a site on Turnham Green, which had previously been open land, for the benefit of the parish in 1874.[3]
The new building was designed by William Joshua Trehearne in the Italianate style and opened in 1876.[4] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Heathfield Terrace; the central section featured a porte cochère flanked by Corinthian order columns on the ground floor; there were three round arched windows on the first floor with a pediment above.[1] Internally, the principal room was the council chamber on the first floor.[1]
At the creation of 'Chiswick Urban District Council' in 1896, the civic leaders decided that it would be necessary to extend the building.[3] They launched a fund raising campaign to establish a lasting memorial to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee; at least part of the fund, to which the Duke of Devonshire had been a significant donor, was used to finance the extension.[5] The extension was designed by the council surveyor, Arthur Ramsden, with three extra bays to the east on Heathfield Terrace and an extra nine bays along Sutton Court Road; the principal rooms in the extension were the main assembly hall, initially known as the Devonshire Hall, and a large reception room, which became known as the Hogarth Hall.[6] The enlarged complex re-opened as Chiswick Town Hall in February 1901.[3]
In December 1901, a bust of the local painter, William Hogarth, which had been commissioned by the philanthropist, John Passmore Edwards, was unveiled by the painter, Sir William Richmond, in the newly-named Hogarth Room.[7]
The building became the town hall of the merged 'Municipal Borough of Brentford and Chiswick' in 1927 but ceased to be the local seat of government when a further conglomeration of local administration took place in 1965.
The town hall was subsequently used as a local register office, and it still remains an approved venue for marriage ceremonies.[8] A Citizens Advice Bureau was also established in the building.[9]
A programme of restoration works was carried out by T&B Contractors to plans by A3 Architects in 2010.[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 National Heritage List 1260615: Chiswick Town Hall (former) (Grade II listing)
- ↑ 'London's Town Halls' (Historic England)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Draper, Warwick: Chiswick. Published by Anne Bingley in association with Hounslow Leisure Services, 1990, pages 173 and 176.
- ↑ Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1991). London 3: North West. Yale University Press. p. 394. ISBN 978-0300096521. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AuvCfuvUy-0C&pg=PA394&lpg=.
- ↑ "How Chiswick Celebrated the 1897 Jubilee". Brentford and Chiswick Local History Society. https://brentfordandchiswicklhs.org.uk/local-history/leisure/how-chiswick-celebrated-the-1897-jubilee/. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ↑ "Chiswick Town Hall". Cvent. https://www.cvent.com/venues/london/special-event-venue/chiswick-town-hall/venue-52dd1b9e-9b92-4da6-8e0a-294d1c8734b1. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ↑ "Assault on Gaol Governor". Henley Advertiser. 7 December 1901. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1900-01-01/1909-12-31?BasicSearch=%22william%20hogarth%22&PhraseSearch=william%20hogarth&RetrieveCountryCounts=False&MostSpecificLocation=aberdeen%2C%20aberdeenshire%2C%20scotland&SortOrder=score&page=8. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ↑ "Approved premises and licensing venues for ceremonies". London Borough of Hounslow. https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20094/marriages_and_civil_partnerships/1334/approved_premises_-_licensed_venues_for_ceremonies. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ↑ "Brentford & Chiswick Citizens Advice Bureaux". My Health. https://www.myhealth.london.nhs.uk/london-health-services/brentford-chiswick-citizens-advice-bureau. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ↑ "Chiswick Town Hall". A3 Architects. http://www.a3architects.com/A3_Architects/chiswick_town_hall.html. Retrieved 31 August 2020.