Mitcham Vestry Hall

Mitcham Vestry Hall is a municipal building in London Road, Mitcham, London. It is a locally listed building.[1]

Mitcham Vestry Hall
Mitcham Vestry Hall
LocationLondon Road, Mitcham
Coordinates51.4020°N 0.1680°W / 51.4020; -0.1680
Built1887
ArchitectRobert Masters Chart
Architectural style(s)Victorian style
Shown in Merton

History

The building was commissioned as a vestry hall for the benefit of the Parish of St Peter and St Paul: the site selected for the building had previously been occupied by the local police and fire stations.[2] It was designed by Robert Masters Chart in the Victorian style and was officially opened on 18 May 1887.[1] However, the vestry hall was described, in 1895, as a "red brick blot"...which had..."ruined for ever the picturesqueness of Mitcham of old".[3]

The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto London Road; it featured a doorway with pediment in the furthest right bay with a tall clock tower rising above; there were windows in each of the bays on the first floor; it had a steeply pitched roof with a cupola and weather vane.[1] The old village lock-up which had formed the basement of the old police station was incorporated into the basement of the new building.[4] The design also featured an entrance for the fire engine in the furthest left bay: the horse-drawn fire engine fire engine itself was replaced with an appliance made by Merryweather & Sons in 1912.[5]

Urban expansion saw the immediate area become the geographical and administrative centre of the developing township in the late 19th century[6] and the building became the council offices for the new Mitcham Urban District Council in 1915.[7] A large extension to the west was completed in 1930[4] and, after the area achieved municipal borough status, the building became known as "Mitcham Town Hall" in 1934.[8] A room on the first floor of the extension was designated for use as a courtroom in the 1930s[4] and the main hall was used as a British Restaurant during the Second World War.[9]

The building continued to serve as the headquarters of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged London Borough of Merton was formed in 1965.[10] It was subsequently used as workspace by several departments of Merton Council including the Borough Treasurer's Department.[4] However, after the council departments moved out in the 1980s, the building was refurnished and was revived as a community centre known as the "Vestry Hall".[11] The building continues to be used for public meetings and,[12] in September 2014, the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group held its first Annual General meeting there.[13]

The Wandle Industrial Museum, which was established at Worsfold House in Church Road in Mitcham in June 1983 to preserve artifacts associated with the River Wandle and its industrial heritage, moved to the annex in the grounds of the vestry hall in July 1989.[14]

References
  1. "Local list" (PDF). London Borough of Merton. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  2. "Ordnance Survey Map". 1879. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  3. Barrett, C.R.B. (1895), Surrey Highways and Byways
  4. "Tales from the Vestry Hall". Mysterious Mitcham. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  5. "1912 : Mitcham Fire Brigade get a Merryweather Fire Engine". Mitcham History Notes. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  6. Montague, Eric. "Lower Green West Mitcham". Merton Historical Society. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  7. "Mitcham". Merton Historical Society. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  8. "Alderman J Fitch, Mayor 1934-35". Merton Photographic Archive. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  9. "Token Issuers". Mernick. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  10. "Local Government Act 1963". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  11. "Vestry Hall". London Borough of Merton. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  12. "Mitcham Vestry Hall". Top Venues. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  13. "NHS Merton Clinical Commissioning Group to hold first ever public meeting". Wimbledon Times. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  14. "History of the Museum". Wandle Industrial Museum. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
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