Stepney Town Hall

Stepney Town Hall, formerly St George's Vestry Hall, is a municipal building on Cable Street, Stepney, London. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]

Stepney Town Hall
Stepney Town Hall
Location236 Cable Street, Stepney E1 0BL
Coordinates51.5109°N 0.0584°W / 51.5109; -0.0584
Built1860 (1860)
ArchitectAndrew Wilson
Architectural style(s)Classical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated11 April 1990 (1990-04-11)
Reference no.1242346
Shown in Tower Hamlets

History

In the mid-19th century the local vestry board met in a room on the south-west corner of the Church of St George in the East.[2] Board members decided this arrangement was inadequate for their needs and that they would procure a purpose-built vestry hall for the Parish of St George: the site chosen was to the north-east of the church and already formed part of the church grounds.[3]

The vestry hall, the western section of the current complex, was designed by Andrew Wilson in the Classical style and was completed in 1860.[4] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Cable Street; there was a porch with Doric order columns and pilasters and a triglyphed frieze projecting from the central section and a row of windows interspersed with Ionic order columns on the first floor.[1] A cornice bearing the words "Erected AD 1860" was added at roof level.[1] The principal room was the board room (subsequently termed the council chamber) located on the first floor at the front of the building.[4]

On 1 October 1888 the inquest into the death of Elizabeth Stride, the third victim of the Whitechapel murders, was held in the building.[5][6]

The building was extended eastwards by adding an extra three bays to the five bays that already existed in a similar style in 1899; it went on to become the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney as "Stepney Town Hall" in 1900.[7] The area in front of the town hall was the scene of the Battle of Cable Street on Sunday 4 October 1936 when a clash took place between the Metropolitan Police, sent to protect a march by members of the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley, and various anti-fascist demonstrators.[8] A mural, which was subsequently painted on the side of the building to depict these events, was restored in the early 21st century.[8][9][10]

The building ceased to function as the local seat of government when the enlarged London Borough of Tower Hamlets was formed in 1965.[11] It was subsequently became the home of various community organisations including St George's Boxing Club.[12] After the building was converted for commercial use in the 1990s,[4] a community centre, managed by Unite the Union, was established in the basement in 2013.[13]

References
  1. Historic England. "St George's Town Hall, Tower Hamlets (1242346)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  2. "History of the parish & its principal church". St George in the East Church. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  3. "Ordnance Survey Map". 1851. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  4. "London's Town Halls". Historic England. p. 189. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  5. Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook ISBN 978-1-977-37535-3 p. 76
  6. Yost, Dave (2008). Elizabeth Stride and Jack the Ripper: The Life and Death of the Reputed Third Victim. McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0786433186.
  7. "Limehouse Town Hall springs back to like after leaky roof is fixed". East London Advertiser. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  8. "Cable Street: 'Solidarity stopped Mosley's fascists'". BBC News. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. "The Faded Grandeur Of London's Old Town Halls". The Londonist. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  10. "The lost east end" (PDF). Discovering Britain. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  11. "Local Government Act 1963". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  12. "Sammy tells his story of bygone boxing era". East London Advertiser. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  13. "Unite Community Centre, Shadwell" (PDF). London Borough of Tower Hamlets. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
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