Limehouse Town Hall

Limehouse Town Hall is a former town hall building on Commercial Road, in Limehouse, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]

Limehouse Town Hall
Limehouse Town Hall
LocationCommercial Road, Limehouse
Coordinates51°30′43.56″N 0°1′53.22″W
Built1881
ArchitectArthur and Christopher Harston
Architectural style(s)Palazzo style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated27 September 1973
Reference no.1240047
Shown in Tower Hamlets

History
The building entrance

The foundation stone for the building was laid on 21 October 1879.[2] The building was designed Arthur and Christopher Harston in the Palazzo style[3] and was opened as the vestry hall of the Limehouse District on 29 March 1881.[2]

After the civil parish became a part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney in 1900,[4] the town hall ceased the seat of local government and was used as offices.[5]

On 30 July 1909 the Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George made a polemical speech in the assembly room, attacking the House of Lords for its opposition to his "People's Budget". This speech was the origin of the phrase "To Limehouse", or "Limehousing", which meant an incendiary political speech.[6] The building was transferred to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 1965 and was subsequently used as the National Museum of Labour History until serving as the Wapping Neighbourhood Offices in the 1980s.[5]

It was placed on English Heritage's list of buildings at risk in 2003.[5] After receiving a grant from English Heritage, it was restored and re-opened as a community centre in April 2012.[5]

Features and current use

The building has a number of offices located below a grand assembly room.[5] It currently houses the Limehouse Town Hall Consortium Trust, which has a long lease on the building from Tower Hamlets Council, and is home to several groups, such as the Boxing Club (this is no longer a boxing club, but a group that hires spaces and arranges occasional events, mostly to raise money for the upkeep of the venue),[7] and some self-help bicycle maintenance workshops.[8]

The building is not generally open to the public, but participates in Open House London for guided tours of the building.[3]

References
  1. Historic England. "Limehouse Town Hall, Tower Hamlets (1240047)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  2. "London's Town Halls". Historic England. p. 184. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  3. "Limehouse Town Hall". Open House London. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  4. Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
  5. "Limehouse Town Hall springs back to like after leaky roof is fixed". East London Advertiser. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  6. "Limehousing". Take our word for it. 24 January 2000. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
  7. "The Boxing Club". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  8. "Bicycle Maintenance Workshop". Tower Hamlets Wheelers. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
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