Leaf Hall is a
grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
former working men's institute in
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
, East Sussex. It was built in 1863–64 to a design by
Robert Knott Blessley
Robert Knott Blessley (1833–1923) was a British architect based in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
He was born in Highgate, London to Robert and Mary Blessley.
After training as an architect he set up an office in Furnival's Inn, London before moving ...
in a continental gothic style for the philanthropist
William Leaf
William Laidler Leaf (1791-1874) was a wealthy silk merchant and philanthropist.
Biography
He lived in Streatham, south London and had a holiday home on Eastbourne's Grand Parade.
He was closely associated with the temperance movement and funde ...
.
It was closely associated with the
temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
. The building now serves as a community arts centre.
The foundation stone stated the building's purpose was ''"to promote the social, moral and spiritual welfare of the working classes of Eastbourne"''. The hall's facilities included a coffee room, lending library and reading room, smoking room, skittle yard and a lecture room capable of seating 200 people. In the absence of a local theatre the hall was used for staging visiting shows, including General Tom Thumb in 1865.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Eastbourne
There are more than 130 listed buildings in the town and borough of Eastbourne, a seaside resort on the coast of East Sussex in England. Eastbourne, whose estimated population in 2011 was 99,400, grew from a collection of farming hamlets into ...
References
External links
*http://www.leafhall.co.uk/
Grade II listed buildings in East Sussex
Eastbourne
Buildings and structures completed in 1864
Working men's clubs
Temperance movement
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