Waltham Abbey Town Hall is a municipal facility on Highbridge Street in

Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and E ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. It is a locally listed building.

History

Local civic officials found it necessary to establish some proper accommodation following the formation of the

Waltham Holy Cross Urban District Waltham Holy Cross was an urban district in the county of Essex, England, which was abolished and amalgamated with other local government districts in 1974 to form the Epping Forest District. The district consisted of the area of the ancient pa ...

in 1894. The site selected was occupied by an old slum called Camps Court which was accordingly demolished. The foundation stone for the "Waltham Holy Cross Council Buildings" was laid by Mrs A. J. Chapman, wife of the then chairman of the council, in January 1904. The building, which was designed in the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style with a tower in the style of a french chateau, was built by the local contractor, John Bentley & Sons. It was officially opened by Mrs A. J. Chapman in late 1904. There were originally two arched doorways to the west of the front door for use by a horse-drawn fire engine. The fire engine was mechanised in 1923 and the fire station moved to Romeland after 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 ...

. In late 1914, during 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 ...

, the building was converted for use as a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

hospital. The hospital initially deployed 40 beds but later in the war this increased to 50 beds, and after a hutted ward had been built it increased to 64 beds. The building continued to be the meeting place of Waltham Holy Cross Urban District Council but ceased to be the local seat of government when

Epping Forest District Epping Forest is a local government district in Essex, England. Situated in the west of the county, bordering northeastern Greater London, it is named after, and contains a large part of, Epping Forest. The district, though wholly within the cou ...

was formed by the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

in 1974. In 2003 a plaque was erected on the town hall by the

Richard III Society Ricardians are people interested in altering the posthumous reputation of King Richard III of England (reigned 1483–1485). Richard III has long been portrayed unfavourably, most notably in William Shakespeare's play '' Richard III'', in which ...

to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of

Margaret of York Margaret of York (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503)—also by marriage known as Margaret of Burgundy—was Duchess of Burgundy as the third wife of Charles the Bold and acted as a protector of the Burgundian State after his death. She was a daught ...

, who had local connections and had been sister of both

King Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in Englan ...

and

King Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

. The local singer, Luciee-Marie Closier, who performed in series 3 of the

talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

, performed from the balcony of the town hall in November 2014. The town hall still remains the meeting place of Waltham Abbey Town Council.

Notes

References

{{reflist Art Nouveau architecture in England City and town halls in Essex Buildings and structures in Essex Art Nouveau government buildings Government buildings completed in 1904 Waltham Abbey