Wilton's Music 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 ...
in
Shadwell, built as a
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
and now run as a multi-arts performance space in Graces Alley, off
Cable Street in the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...
. It is one of very few surviving music halls of the
East End of London and retains many original features.
Wilton's has been a
producing venue since 2004. It presents a diverse and programme including
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
,
puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...
, classical music,
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
, dance, and
magic. It is a focus for theatrical and East End history, as well as a living
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
,
concert hall
A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats.
This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...
,
public bar and
heritage site.
The venue underwent an extensive programme of restoration work from 2012 to 2015. The theatre did not close during the building works, instead running an interim arts programme called ''The Chrysalis Club''. The award-winning spaces reopened in October 2015.
Architecture
The theatre is a rare surviving example of the "giant pub hall". In the theatre, a single gallery, on three sides and supported by "
barley sugar" cast iron pillars, rises above a large rectangular hall and a high stage with a
proscenium arch. In its heyday, a "sun-burner" chandelier of 300 gas jets and 27,000 cut crystals, illuminated a mirrored hall. Today, charring is still visible in the rafters, where the chimney exhausted the heat of this massive device. The hall would have had space for supper tables, a benched area, and promenades around the outside for standing customers.
Wilton's was modelled on many other successful London halls of the time, including the second Canterbury Hall (1854) in
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...
,
Evans Music-and-Supper Rooms (1856) in
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
, and
Weston's (1857) (later known as 'The Royal Holborn'). Wilton's remains the only surviving example.
History
Origins
Wilton's is a unique building, comprising a mid-19th-century grand music hall attached to an 18th-century terrace of three houses and a
pub. Originally an alehouse dating from 1743 or earlier, it may well have served the Scandinavian sea captains and wealthy merchants who lived in neighbouring Wellclose Square. From c. 1826, it was also known as The Mahogany Bar, reputedly because the landlord was the first to install a
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...
bar and fittings in his pub. In 1839 a concert room was built behind the pub and in 1843 it was licensed for a short time as The Albion Saloon, a saloon theatre, legally permitted to put on full-length plays. John Wilton bought the business in c. 1850, enlarged the concert room three years later, and replaced it with his 'Magnificent New Music Hall' in 1859.
Wilton's was built by Jacob Maggs, on the same site as the former concert room of the Albion Saloon. The hall could accommodate 1,500 people, most of whom were working-class.
[Baker, p. 113] The bar was retained as the public entrance, and the hall was built in the area behind the existing block of houses. This was common practice at the time, as street frontage for
music halls was very expensive. He furnished the hall with mirrors, chandeliers and decorative paintwork, and installed the finest heating, lighting and ventilation systems of the day.
Madrigals,
glees and excerpts from opera were at first the most important part of the entertainment, along with the latest attractions from West End and provincial halls, circus, ballet and fairground. In the thirty years Wilton's was a music hall, many of the best-remembered acts of early popular entertainment performed here, from George Ware who wrote "
The Boy I Love is Up in the Gallery", to
Arthur Lloyd and
George Leybourne ("
Champagne Charlie") two of the first music hall stars to perform for royalty.
Fire and Methodism
Wilton's passed into several ownerships during the 1870s before being destroyed by fire in 1877. An eight-year rebuild commenced that year, before the building was bought by the East End Mission of the
Methodist Church
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 ...
. Towards the end of the 19th century, the East End had become notorious for extreme poverty and terrible living conditions. Religious organisations tried to help, such as the East London Methodist Mission, renamed The Mahogany Bar Mission and for some time considered 'Methodism's finest hall'.
During the
Great Dock Strike of 1889, a
soup kitchen
A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center is a place where food is offered to Hunger, hungry and homeless people, usually for no price, cost, or sometimes at a below-market price (such as coin Donation, donations). Frequently located in Low i ...
was set up at The Mahogany Bar, feeding a thousand meals a day to the starving dockers' families.
The Mission remained open for nearly 70 years, through some of the most testing periods in East End history, including the 1936
Mosley March and the
London Blitz
London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Throughout that time, the Methodists campaigned against social abuses, welcomed people of all creeds and ethnicity, and gave invaluable support to the local community, particularly the needy children of the area.
1950s–1990s
The church ceased in 1956, and Wilton's briefly became a rag storage warehouse. After the Second World War, the area was subject to local authority
compulsory purchase as part of the
slum clearance
Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
schemes of the 1960s. The Methodists had to leave and Wilton's was scheduled for demolition. A campaign was started to save the building with support from persons such as
Sir John Betjeman,
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...
and
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...
. Wilton's was given the protection of
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 ...
status in April 1971, and was bought by the
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
. The London Music Hall Trust was formed by solicitor Michael Shelton, to preserve it, but the GLC, under the leadership of
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...
, sold it to the Jacobs Island Company, along with some surrounding land.
The London Music Hall Trust, then chaired by Bernard Brook-Partridge, was able, with the considerable assistance of Brian Daubney, to intervene to persuade the local planning authority to make it a condition of development of the surrounding land that Jacobs Island Company donated the building to the Trust. The Trust was able to secure some £300,000 to make the building wind and watertight and preserve it until 1999 when it was leased to Broomhill Opera Company until 2004.
Broomhill Opera produced two productions within the first 18 months, but then surrendered their lease to the Trust. Wilton's Music Hall Trust was then formed, and in 2001 the London Music Hall Trust donated the building to the new trust which has run it ever since.
1990s rebirth
Wilton's reopened as a
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
and
concert hall
A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats.
This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...
with a production of
T. S. Eliot's ''
The Waste Land'', starring
Fiona Shaw. In 1997, Frances Mayhew, former Managing and Artistic Director took over the building in 2004, having worked previously at Wilton's in the late 1990s as an intern. It was again derelict and in debt. In June 2007 the
World Monuments Fund added the building to its list of the world's "100 most endangered sites".
Over the next decade Frances Mayhew and her team restored the building with a programme of arts and community activities and the reinstatement of The Mahogany Bar. The profile grew and in 2012, due to donations from SITA Trust, the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and other trusts and individuals, enough money was raised – just over £1m – to carry out the first half of a Capital Project to repair the building. This first half repaired the auditorium and in 2013, with support of Heritage Lottery Fund and other donors, Wilton's was able to raise the £2.6 million needed to begin part two of the project to repair the houses, numbers 1–4 Graces Alley and 17 Wellclose Square, which make up Wilton’s front of house. This included creating a new Learning and Participation Studio funded by the Aldgate and Allhallows Foundation. The project was completed in September 2015 leaving the building structurally secure – probably for the first time since the renovations of music hall days.
In carrying out the building work, a policy of "conservative repair" has been followed which means "retaining genuine historic fabric and avoiding misleading restoration, so that future generations can interpret the significance for themselves in their own way, based on the physical evidence". The work has been carried out by Fullers (Phase 1 – the Auditorium) and William Anelay (Phase 2 – the Front of House) under the direction of Tim Ronalds Architects, EC Harris, Bristow Johnson, Cambridge Architectural Research, Max Fordham, All Clear Designs, Ramboll UK, Carr and Angier and Wilton's staff.
The hall is used for performances and film and photo shoots. It is owned and managed by the Wilton's Music Hall Trust as an arts and heritage venue.
Restoration
After years of under-investment, the venue was in a state of decay. It was featured on the BBC television series ''
Restoration'' in 2003 as a nominee for the South East segment of the show, alongside
Broomfield House in
Enfield and
Darnley Mausoleum in
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
. The building won the South East category, with the series' overall winner announced as
Victoria Baths in
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 ...
.
Since the Wilton's Music Hall Trust took over ownership in 2004, restoration has made steady progress and the building is in much better shape.
Phase 1 of the Capital Project Works was finished in February 2013 with completion of repairs to the auditorium. Phase 2 repaired the five Georgian houses that make up the front half of Wilton's, having spent decades suffering from damp, rot, subsidence, dereliction, and leaking roofs. Phase 2 commenced in July 2014 and was completed in late 2015.
In February 2016 Wilton's Music Hall was shortlisted in the "Building Conservation" category of the RICS Awards 2016, London.
The building was for many years on
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
's
Heritage at Risk Register, but following its successful restoration, was removed from the list in 2016, and after 20 years on the register, it was named as one of the successful rescues.
See also
*
Hoxton Hall
References
Sources
*
* John Earl and Michael Sell ''Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950'', pp. 147–8 (Theatres Trust, 2000)
*Peter Honri ''John Wilton’s Music Hall, The Handsomest Room in Town'' (1985)
*Diana Howard ''London Theatres and Music Halls 1850–1950'' (1970)
External links
Wilton's Music Hall (Official Website)Theatres Trust database entryInterview with Frances Mayhew, former Artistic & Managing Director of Wilton’s Music Hall (Spitalfields Life blog)Interview with David Mason, Past Resident of Wilton’s Music Hall (Spitalfields Life blog)held by the
University of East London
University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...
's East London Theatre Archive]
IMDB List of Movies & TV Programmes Filmed at Wilton's Music Hall 2003 BBC Restoration candidates*The Somnambulist: a novel by Essie Fox and published by Orion Books, which features Wilton's Music Hall http://www.essiefox.com
Interview with Harry Hickmore, former Head of Development and Communications of Wilton's Music Hall (LONDON BEYOND TIME AND PLACE site)
{{Authority control
Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Music hall venues in the United Kingdom
Theatres in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Structures formerly on the Heritage at Risk register
Shadwell