Anerley Town Hall is a municipal building in Anerley Road, Anerley, London. It is a locally listed building.[1]
| Anerley Town Hall | |
|---|---|
 Anerley Town Hall | |
| Location | Anerley Road, Anerley |
| Coordinates | 51°24′42″N 0°04′02″W / 51.4117°N 0.0673°W |
| Built | 1879 |
| Architect | George Elkington |
| Architectural style(s) | Italianate style |
  Shown in Bromley | |
History edit
The building was commissioned by the Parish of St Paul's Church, Anerley as their vestry hall.[2] The area chosen for the new building was part of a 56 acres (23 ha) site occupied by the North Surrey District School.[2][3][4]
The town hall was designed by George Elkington in the Italianate style and built by J & C Bowyer, builders, at a cost of £4,341;[5] it was officially opened on 30 April 1879.[6] The original design involved three bays with a central doorway on the ground floor; there were two windows above the doorway and three windows in each of the other bays on the first floor; a copper-clad clock-tower was erected on the roof.[5] The assembly hall was set to the southeast of the main building and featured an unusual hammerbeam roof with the beams connected by wrought iron rods.[2]
The building became the headquarters of the new Penge Urban District formed in 1900,[7] and was significantly extended by the creation of three extra bays to the northwest at a cost of £3,229 to incorporate a council chamber and committee rooms in 1911.[8] Further changes were made to create a courtroom for petty sessions in 1925.[8]
The town hall continued to be the headquarters of the urban council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged London Borough of Bromley was formed in 1965.[9] It was extended with a new structure at the rear to accommodate a public library and also to create additional space for Bromley Council's housing and social services departments in 1987.[8] The main building was converted into a series of fully furnished commercial offices in November 2003.[8] The library moved out of the town hall into dedicated facilities in Green Lane in September 2014;[10][11] This allowed the former library area to be used as a play area for children.[8]
Crystal Palace Community Trust, a local charity, obtained a 40-year lease over the building with the intention of managing it as a community asset from August 2017.[12] Items of interest in the town hall include the first-rate book dated 18 June 1827 which records the first-rate payment by William Sanderson, a resident at "Anerley House", the first house to be built on the former Penge Common.[13]
References edit
- ^ "Anerley Town Hall". Bromley Council. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ a b c "London's Town Halls". Historic England. p. 21. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "North Surrey District School". Workhouses. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ Walford, Edward (1878). "'Sydenham, Norwood and Streatham', in Old and New London". London: British History Online. pp. 303–319. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ a b "History of Penge". London: This is Local London. 14 July 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ Chance, Tom (23 January 2015). "A future for Anerley Town Hall: photograph of plaque commemorating the official opening". Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ "London Government Act 1899". Butterworth & Co. 1899. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "History of Anerley Town Hall". Crystal Palace Community Trust. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1963". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ "New library opens in Penge". Bromley Times. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "Party at Anerley Library marks historic before new facility opens its doors". News Shopper. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "40-year lease on Anerley Town Hall signed by CPCT". Crystal Palace Community Trust. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ Hibbert, Christopher; Ben Weinreb (2008). The London Encyclopaedia. Macmillan Reference. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5.