Walworth Town Hall is a municipal building in Walworth Road,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, 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 ...

. It was built for the vestry of the parish of Newington, opening as the Newington Vestry Hall in 1865. When Newington became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark in 1900 the building served as Southwark Town Hall. It ceased to be a headquarters of local government in 1965 when the London Borough of Southwark was created.

History

In the late 1850s the Vestry Board of St Mary, Newington met in the Infant School Room in Queen's Head Row as well as in a room in the local parish church. After civic leaders found this arrangement was inadequate, they decided to procure a purpose-built

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

hall: the site selected on Walworth Road had previously been open land owned by the

Worshipful Company of Fishmongers The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers (or Fishmongers' Company) is one of the 110 Livery Companies of the City of London, being an incorporated guild of sellers of fish and seafood in the City. The Company ranks fourth in the order of precede ...

. The new building, which was designed by Henry Jarvis 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 built Piper and Wheeler, was officially opened on 8 August 1865. The building was financed by a loan from Edward Chambers Nicholson, a wealthy

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

who had settled locally in his retirement. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto Walworth Road; the central section featured a round-arched stone doorway flanked by

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

columns; there was a triple round-arched window above on the first floor. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber on the first floor. Also of interest is that at the end of this block of buildings, on Larcom Street,

Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...

, the Victorian mechanical computer pioneer, was born in 1791 although the original house has been demolished. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

records his birth. After the Newington Public Library had been built to the south east of the town hall in 1892, an infill extension was added between the two buildings in 1893. The town hall became the headquarters of the

Metropolitan Borough of Southwark The Metropolitan Borough of Southwark (''Br'' �sʌðɨk was a metropolitan borough in the County of London from 1900 to 1965. It was created to cover the western section of the ancient borough of Southwark and the parish of Newington. In common ...

and was renamed "Southwark Town Hall" in 1900. It was extended along Wansey street to provide further accommodation in 1902. The building ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...

was formed in 1965. It was subsequently used as workspace by the council, becoming known as "Walworth Town Hall", and was also used as the local registrar's office. The

Cuming Museum The Cuming Museum in Walworth Road in Elephant and Castle, within the London Borough of Southwark, London, England, was a museum housing the collection of the Cuming family and later collections on Southwark's history. As of 2021, its collection ...

, which had been based at the back of the Newington Public Library, moved into the town hall in 2006. The roof of the building was badly damaged by a fire in March 2013 and the building was subsequently added to the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for actio ...

. In March 2018, the council announced that the building would be restored and appointed Feix & Merlin as architects and General Projects as the developer for works. Plans were announced in 2019 to introduce a commercial partner. Proposals for the restoration works, which included educational activities, creative workshops and studio spaces, were submitted for planning consent in June 2020. Work began on the building's refurbishment in March 2022.

References

{{reflist Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Southwark City and town halls in London Government buildings completed in 1865 Grade II listed government buildings