Paddington Town Hall was a municipal building in Harrow Road,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

, London. The structure, which was the headquarters of the

Paddington Metropolitan Borough Council Paddington was a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The p ...

, was demolished in 1965.

History

The building was commissioned as a vestry hall for

St Mary on Paddington Green Church St Mary on Paddington Green is an Anglican church in the Parish of Little Venice, London, and forms part of Paddington Green conservation area. Today it stands at the junction of Edgware Road and Harrow Road, overlooking the East end of Westway ...

: the site selected for the building, which had previously been identified for potential use as an additional burial ground, was immediately to the west of the church on the north side of Harrow Road. Paddington Town Hall and Paddington Green

Paddington Town Hall and Paddington Green

The new hall was designed by

James Lockyer James Lockyer may refer to: * James Lockyer (activist), Canadian lawyer and social justice activist * James Lockyer (architect) James Lockyer (1796 – 23 May 1875), sometimes styled as John Lockyer, was an English architect and surveyor, based in ...

in the

neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...

, built in white brick with stone dressings and was completed in 1853. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto Harrow Road with the last two bays at each end projected forward as pavilions; the central section of three bays, featured a

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

formed by a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with u ...

columns supporting a

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

. The building became the headquarters of the

Metropolitan Borough of Paddington Paddington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Boar ...

when it was formed in 1900; it was enlarged at that time and enlarged again in 1920. A war memorial made of teak panels intended to commemorate the lives of service personnel who had died in the

First World war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was installed in the outer hall of the town hall in 1924. The building served as sleeping accommodation for female telephone operators working for the local

Air Raid Precautions Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...

Staff during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. On the night of the 14 March 1940 the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

detonated a bomb close to the town hall; no-one was injured in the attack. A high-profile public inquiry took place in the town hall in October 1954: developers had proposed to erect three blocks of flats to be named "Perkins Heights" on part of Paddington Green.

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

opposed the scheme, which ultimately did not proceed, and Paddington Technical Institute established a campus there instead. The building continued to serve as the headquarters of the metropolitan borough for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

was formed in 1965. It was then demolished to make way for the Westway urban motorway later that year. The original teak war memorial panels were destroyed when the building was demolished, as no home could be found for them, but a three-volume book of remembrance was relocated to St James's Church, Paddington. A green plaque was erected on the Paddington Exchange Building at the corner of Harrow Road and Hermitage Street, in 2015, to commemorate the site of the former town hall under the Westway.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1853 City and town halls in London Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Demolished buildings and structures in London Buildings and structures demolished in 1965