Islington Town Hall

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Islington Town Hall

Middlesex

IslingtonTownHall.jpg
Islington Town Hall
Type: Town hall
Location
Grid reference: TQ31698424
Location: 51°32’30"N, 0°6’9"W
Town: Islington
History
Address: Upper Street
Built 1925
By: Edward Charles Philip Monson
Town hall
Neoclassical
Information
Owned by: Islington Council

Islington Town Hall stands in Upper Street, in Islington, Middlesex. Built in 1925 as the town hall for Islington's borough council, it still serves as the headquarters of its successor.

The town hall is a Grade II listed building.[1]

History

The building was commissioned by the Metropolitan Borough of Islington to replace the old Islington Vestry Hall on Upper Street.[2] In 1920, the council purchased for the purpose a site of 136,000 square feet off Tyndale Place.[3]

The new building was designed by Edward Charles Philip Monson in the Neoclassical style and it was built in three stages: first the rear wing facing Richmond Grove in 1922, second the northern part in Upper Street in 1925 and third the Assembly Hall in 1929.[2] The complex was officially opened by the mayor on 15 March 1930.[4]

Since 1930, when Arsenal won their first FA Cup against Huddersfield Town, victory receptions have been held at the town hall.[5]

The original Islington Council was abolished in 1965 and the town hall was inherited by its successor. it remained the seat of local government for the new Islington Council.[2]

An underground bunker was constructed for protection against nuclear attack in the 1980s.[2] Islington Museum, which had previously been based in the town hall, moved out of the building in preparation for its move to Finsbury Library in December 2006.[6]

The council moved many of its staff to the Islington Customer Centre on the opposite side of Upper Street in the early 2000s.[7]

References