Finsbury Town Hall

The foundation stone for the building was laid in 1894.[2] It was designed by William Charles Evans-Vaughan in the Flemish Renaissance Revival style.[3] The facility was built with red bricks and Portland stone dressings by Charles Dearing of Islington and was officially opened by Lord Rosebery as the Clerkenwell Vestry on 14 July 1895.[3] After being extended to cover the whole area between Garnault Place and Rosoman Street in the late 1890s, it became the meeting place of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury in 1900.[3]

During the Second World War an air raid shelter and control centre was built under Garnault Place with access from the town hall; the underground facility continued to maintained during the Cold War in case of nuclear attack.[3]

The town hall was transferred to the Islington London Borough Council in 1965.[3] In 1993 a plaque was erected outside the town hall to commemorate the life of Sir Dadabhai Naoroji, the first Asian to become a British Member of Parliament.[4]

Although it was no longer the seat of local government, it was used for a while as a registry office and a social services centre.[2] Then, after a period of dereliction and subsequent restoration, the town hall became home to the performing arts college Urdang Academy, with the main rooms used for dancing classes, in 2007.[5]

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  Town Hall entrance
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  Clerkenwell Town Hall plaque
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  Finsbury Town hall - Council chamber
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  Finsbury Town Hall - Great hall
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  Finsbury Town Hall plaque
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  Finsbury Town Hall front side