The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...
, London, serving primarily as a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
church and a
conference centre
A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...
. The building also houses an art gallery, a restaurant, and office spaces (used formerly as the headquarters of the
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestantism, Protestant List of Christian denominations, Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodism, Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council.
M ...
until 2000). It contains 22 conference, meeting and seminar rooms, the largest being the ''Great Hall'', which seats 2,300. Central Hall also acts as an important spiritual and sacred place for Methodists.
Methodist Central Hall occupies the corner of Tothill Street and Storeys Gate just off
Victoria Street in London, near the junction with The Sanctuary next to the
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and facing
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
.
History
Methodist Central Hall was erected by
Wesleyan Methodists as one of their mixed-purpose 'central halls'. Central Hall was to act not only as a church, but to be of "great service for conferences on religious, educational, scientific, philanthropic and social questions". The hall was built in 1905–1911 on the site of the
Royal Aquarium, Music Hall and Imperial Theatre,
an entertainment complex that operated with varying success from 1876 to 1903.
Construction was funded between 1898 and 1908 by the "Wesleyan Methodist Twentieth Century Fund" (or the "Million Guinea Fund", as it became more commonly known), whose aim was to raise one million
guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...
from one million Methodists. The fund closed in 1904 having raised 1,024,501 guineas (£1,075,727).
The project to establish the Million Guinea Fund, and build the Central Hall was the brainchild of Sir
Robert William Perks
Sir Robert William Perks, 1st Baronet (24 April 1849 – 30 November 1934) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician, lawyer, financier, and company director.
He was the son of George Thomas Perks (1819–1877), a Wesleyan Methodist ...
(1849-1934).
The building played host to several important events; meetings of the
suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
movement took place at Methodist Central Hall in 1914. Scenes were re-enacted in the 2015 film ''
Suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
'', some of which was shot in the hall.
Methodist Central Hall hosted the first meeting of the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...
in 1946.
In return for the use of the hall, the assembly voted to fund the repainting of the walls of the church in a light blue. While it was being used by the UN General Assembly, the congregation relocated to the
Coliseum Theatre
The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...
.
It has been regularly used for political rallies—famous speakers have included
Winnie Mandela
Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, second wife of Nelson Mandela. During ...
,
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
and
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
.
In September 1972 the
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) was a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also had links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unio ...
held a much publicised "Halt Immigration Now!" public meeting in the main hall, addressed by several prominent speakers including members of parliament
Ronald Bell,
John Biggs-Davison,
Harold Soref, and
John Stokes. The Monday Club continued its use of the building until 1991 when it held two seminars there.
In 1968, Central Hall hosted the first public performance of
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...
's ''
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...
''
in a concert that also included his father (organist
William Lloyd Webber
William Southcombe Lloyd Webber (11 March 1914 – 29 October 1982) was an English organist and composer, who achieved some fame as a part of the modern classical music movement whilst commercially facing mixed opportunities. Besides his long ...
who was musical director at Central Hall), his brother the cellist
Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber (born 14 April 1951) is a British solo cellist, conductor and broadcaster, a former principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of the In Harmony music education programme.
Early years and education
Julia ...
and pianist
John Lill
John Richard Lill (born 17 March 1944 in London) is a British classical pianist.
Biography
Lill studied at the Royal College of Music with Angus Morrison, and with Wilhelm Kempff. His talent emerged at an early age, he gave his first piano re ...
.
In early 1966 the
FIFA World Cup Jules Rimet Trophy was on display at Central Hall in preparation for the football tournament being held in England that summer. It was stolen from the hall on 20 March 1966 and was recovered seven days later in south London, but the thief was never caught. England won the trophy four months later. The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen again in Brazil and never recovered, and so had to be replaced.
In 2017, Central Hall was host to the first FIFA Interactive World Cup final where Spencer Ealing (known as Gorilla) beat Kai Wollin (known as DETO).
In 2005, Central Hall controversially applied for a licence to sell alcohol in its café and conference venues. As the Methodist Church has traditionally promoted
abstinence
Abstinence is the practice of self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol (drug), ...
and usually forbids consumption of alcohol on church premises, many Methodists argued that the application was in defiance of church rules and a written objection was compiled.
It is frequently used for public enquiries, including those into the
Ladbroke Grove rail crash
The Ladbroke Grove rail crash (also known as the Paddington rail crash) was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove in London, England, when a Thames Trains-operated passenger train Signal passed at danger, passed a s ...
, the sinking of the ''
Marchioness'' pleasure boat, and the
Bloody Sunday incident in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
.
Architecture

The Methodist Central Hall is a Grade II* listed building.
It was designed by
Edwin Alfred Rickards, of the firm
Lanchester, Stewart and Rickards.
This company also designed the
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
building in
Cathays Park
Cathays Park () or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the Cardiff City Centre, city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It ...
,
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
, with which it shares many similarities. Although clad in an elaborate
baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
style, to contrast with
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
, it is an early example of the use of a reinforced concrete frame for a building in Britain. The interior was similarly planned on a
Piranesian scale, although the execution was rather more economical.
The original 1904 design included two small towers on the main (east) façade, facing Westminster Abbey. These were never built, supposedly because of an outcry that they would reduce the dominance of
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor ( – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principal architects ...
's west towers at Westminster Abbey in views from
St James's Park
St James's Park is a urban park in the City of Westminster, central London. A Royal Park, it is at the southernmost end of the St James's area, which was named after a once isolated medieval hospital dedicated to St James the Less, now the ...
. The hall was eventually finished in 1911.
The domed ceiling of the Great Hall is reputed to be the second largest of its type in the world. The vast scale of the self-supporting ferro-concrete structure reflects the original intention that Central Hall was intended to be a meeting place for "open-air preaching with the roof on".
The angels in the exterior
spandrel
A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame, between the tops of two adjacent arches, or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...
s were designed by
Henry Poole.
File:Methodist Central Hall Westminster - Great Hall Dome.jpg, Interior of the Great Hall, looking up into the dome
File:Methodist Central Hall, Londres, Inglaterra, 2022-11-23, DD 61-63 HDR.jpg, Central Hall at night time
File:Methodist Central Hall View from Roof.jpg, A view of London from the roof of Central Hall, looking to the east
Organ
The
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
was built in 1912 by
William Hill & Sons
William Hill & Son was one of the main organ builders in England during the 19th century.
The founder
William Hill was born in Spilsby, Spilsby, Lincolnshire, in 1789. He married Mary, the daughter of organ-builder Thomas Elliot (organ buil ...
and rebuilt and revised in 1970 by
Rushworth and Dreaper. In 2011,
Harrison & Harrison
Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company based in Durham that makes and restores pipe organs. It was established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and t ...
revised the layout, provided new slider soundboards and actions and painted the front pipes. The organ has 57 stops/68 ranks and 3,789 speaking pipes on four manuals and pedal. The stoplist since 2011:
Great Organ at Westminster Central Hall
www.harrisonorgans.com. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
* Couplers: III-I, IV-I, I-II, III-II, IV-II, IV-III, Sub and Super III, Sub and Super III, Unison off III, Unison off IV, I-P, II-P, III-P, IV-P.
* 8 General Combinations, 8 Divisional Combinations for each Manual and the Pedal (on 256 Memory Levels); Continental Stepper (General Piston Sequencer + and -).
References
External links
Methodist Central Hall
– Church website
Central Hall Westminster
– Conference centre website
The Sanctuary Westminster
{{Authority control
Methodist churches in London
Cultural and educational buildings in London
Grade II* listed churches in the City of Westminster
Edwardian architecture in London
Exhibition and conference centres in London
Religion in the City of Westminster
Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster
Buildings and structures completed in 1911
20th-century architecture in the United Kingdom
Church buildings with domes
Domes in the United Kingdom