Leyton Town Hall

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Leyton Town Hall

Essex

Leytontownhall.jpg
Leyton Town hall
Type: Former town hall
Location
Grid reference: TQ38208626
Location: 51°33’30"N, 0°0’28"W
Town: Leyton
History
Address: 1A Adelaide Road
Built 1895
By: John Johnson
Former town hall
Italianate
Information
Condition: Converted to offices

Leyton Town Hall is a municipal building in Adelaide Road, Leyton, Essex. It served Leyton as the seat of civic government for many years and even after it ceased in that function, it provided offices for the successor council until sold for redevelopment in 2006.

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

History

The building was commissioned to replace an earlier town hall designed by John Knight located at the corner of High Road and Ruckholt Road; this had proved inadequate and was subsequently converted into a library.[2]

The new building, which was designed by John Johnson in the Italianate style, was built by F J Coxhead just to the north west of the old building and completed in 1895.[1] It was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of York on 18 March 1896.[3] The building, which was later described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "fussy but enjoyable, in an eclectic and enriched Italianate style",[4] was extended to the south west by a side wing facing on to Ruckholt Road in 1910.[2]

The facility was established as the offices of Leyton Urban District Council and went on to be the headquarters of the Municipal Borough of Leyton when the area secured municipal borough status in 1927.[5] The building ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Waltham Forest Council was formed in 1965. It was subsequently used as additional workspace by the council but, after being found surplus to requirements, it was sold to a developer in 2006.[3] Following an extensive restoration, it was re-opened as a business centre in 2010.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 National Heritage List 1065587: Leyton Town Hall, Leyton (part of) (Grade II listing)
  2. 2.0 2.1 'London's Town Halls' (Historic England), page 192
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Former Leyton Town Hall restored to former glory". East London and West Essex Guardian. 22 March 2010. https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/5075995.history-former-leyton-town-hall-restored-to-former-glory/. Retrieved 11 May 2020. 
  4. Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: London 5: East, 2004 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-10701-2page 729
  5. A History of the County of Essex - Volume 6 pp 205-214: Leyton: Local government and public services (Victoria County History)