The Memorial Hall in

Albert Square Walford is a fictional borough of East London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work i ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, was constructed in 1863–1866 by

Thomas Worthington Thomas or Tom Worthington may refer to: *Thomas Worthington (Douai) (1549–1627), English Catholic priest and third President of Douai College *Thomas Worthington (Dominican) (1671–1754), English Dominican friar and writer *Thomas Worthington (g ...

. It was built to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the 1662 Act of Uniformity. One of the best examples of Venetian Gothic revival in the city, the hall is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The hall was built to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the 1662 Act of Uniformity, when the

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

of some 2,000 Anglican clergy led to the birth of

Nonconformism Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

. Surplus funds from the

Albert Memorial The Albert Memorial is a Gothic Revival Ciborium (architecture), ciborium in Kensington Gardens, London, designed and dedicated to the memory of Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert of Great Britain. Located directly north of the Royal Albert Ha ...

were used to pay for the building. The architect was

, who had a large and successful practice in Manchester. The hall provided a meeting place in the late 19th century for a host of Victorian societies, such as the

Photographic Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed in many ...

Statistical Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

Horticultural Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

, Elocutionists and Positivists Societies. Other groups which used the building included the Home Missionary Board,

Sir Charles Hallé ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

's choir and the Manchester Unitarian Sunday School Union. The ground floor and basement were let to provide an income for the maintenance of the hall. After a period of disuse and dereliction in the early 21st century, the hall was renovated 2012 and now houses a bar, restaurant and hotel.

Architecture

The Memorial Hall is one of the best examples in Manchester of the Venetian Gothic revival style, inspired by such buildings as the

Ca' d'Oro The Ca' d'Oro, or Palazzo Santa Sofia, is a palace on the Grand Canal of Venice, Grand Canal in Venice, northern Italy. Ca' d'Oro or Cadoro translates to "House of Gold" or "Golden House" in English because of the Gilding, gilt and polychrome ext ...

, with fine stone tracery on all windows and a palatial exterior. Worthington designed the building after his second tour of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1858. The detailing is fine and "the subtlety of the

polychromy Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

(was) achieved by careful choice of materials". The hall is a

as of 14 February 1972.

Notes

References

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External links

Article on the Memorial Hall by Dr Peter Lindfield, FSA
{{Manchester B&S Grade II* listed buildings in Manchester Gothic Revival architecture in Greater Manchester Venetian Gothic architecture in the United Kingdom

History

Architecture

See also

Notes

References

External links