Stoke Newington Town Hall is a municipal building in Church Street,

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

, London. It is a Grade II

listed building 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 ...

History

The building was commissioned to replace the council offices in Milton Grove which had been designed by E. Fry in the

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

and completed in 1881. After the area became a

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

in 1900, civic leaders decided that this arrangement was inadequate for their needs and that they would procure a more substantial town hall: the site chosen had previously been occupied by a 15th-century Manor House and, later, by a row of Georgian houses. The new building was designed by John Reginald Truelove and was completed in 1937. The design involved a symmetrical curved frontage of fifteen bays forming municipal offices built in the

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

to the west; this section, which contained the council chamber, featured a central section which was recessed with a doorway on the ground floor and a balcony and window on the first floor flanked by two huge

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

columns. This arrangement was complemented by a rectangular assembly hall with four huge Doric order columns flanked by pavilions built in the

Classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

to the east. A sprung Canadian maple dance floor installed in the assembly hall allowing it to be used as a dance facility. In 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 ...

, the building served as the local civil defence headquarters and was heavily camouflaged to protect it from enemy bombing during the

London Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the

Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington The Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington was a metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965 when it became part of the London Borough of Hackney. Formation and boundaries Predecessor authorities The borough was the suc ...

for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government after the formation of the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1965. The council chamber was subsequently used as a storeroom and the assembly hall was closed, due to its state of disrepair in 1999. The building was extensively refurbished and restored to a design by

Hawkins\Brown Hawkins\Brown Architects LLP is an architectural practice with studios in London and Manchester. History Roger Hawkins and Russell Brown set up Hawkins\Brown in 1988. In recent years Hawkins\Brown has won and been shortlisted for awards includ ...

in 2010: the works, which cost £6.4 million, included comprehensive repairs to the wooden panelling in the council chamber and the modernisation of the assembly hall. The quality of the work was recognised by the

Worshipful Company of Carpenters The Worshipful Company of Carpenters is a livery company of the City of London. The Carpenters were traditionally different from a fellow wood-crafting company, the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers, in that carpenters utilised nails wh ...

in that year's

Wood Awards The Wood Awards (until 2003 the Carpenters' Award) is a British award for working with wood. The award, which was launched in 1971, is bestowed on winners of several categories within buildings and furniture. Awards are presented in The Carpenters ...

. Works of art in the town hall include a portrait of the former mayor of Stoke Newington, Sir Herbert John Ormond, by

Henry Scott Tuke Henry Scott Tuke (12 June 1858 – 13 March 1929), was an English visual artist; primarily a painter, but also a photographer. His most notable work was in the Impressionist style, and he is best known for his paintings of nude boys and young ...

References

{{reflist Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hackney City and town halls in London Government buildings completed in 1937 Grade II listed government buildings