{{Short description|Municipal building in London, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox historic site | name =Hackney Town Hall | native_name = | image =Hackneytownhall2.jpg | caption =Hackney Town Hall | locmapin =United Kingdom London Hackney | map_caption =Shown in Hackney | coordinates ={{coord|51.5451|-0.0564|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} | location = Mare Street, Hackney, London, England | area = | built =1937 | architect = Lanchester and Lodge | architecture =Art Deco style | governing_body = | designation1 =Grade II Listed Building | designation1_offname = | designation1_date =19 July 1991 | designation1_number =1235869 }} '''Hackney Town Hall''' is a municipal building in Hackney, London. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Hackney London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.<ref name=nhle>{{NHLE|num=1235869|desc=Hackney Town Hall|accessdate=3 May 2020}}</ref>
==History== The original town hall in Hackney was a private house, erected in Mare Street in 1802, which had been converted into a simple vestry office for the Parish of St John in the mid 19th century.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1226899|desc=The Midland Bank|access-date=2 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.buildington.co.uk/london-e8/354-mare-street/hackney-old-town-hall/id/9085|title=Hackney Old Town Hall|publisher=Burlington|accessdate=3 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | editor=T F T Baker | title=Hackney: Local Government| url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22709 | work=A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney | publisher=British History Online | year=1995 | accessdate=30 April 2009}}</ref>
When the first civic facility became too small, it was replaced by a building further south on Mare Street, designed by Harnmack and Lambert in the Italianate style, which was completed in 1866.<ref name=he>{{cite web|url=http://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=7096%7CLONDON%27S%20TOWN%20HALLS|title=London's Town Halls|page=72|publisher=Historic England|accessdate=3 May 2020}}</ref> This, the second town hall, was extended at both ends in 1898.<ref name=he/> It became the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney when it became a metropolitan borough in 1899.<ref name=he/> After the second facility was also deemed inadequate, it was demolished to create a civic garden in front of what was to become the current facility.<ref name=he/>
The site selected for current facility, the third town hall, was just to the west of the second town hall on land which had previously been occupied by residential properties.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/534759/184755/12/101107|title=Ordnance Survey Map|year=1916|accessdate=25 April 2020}}</ref> The foundation stone was laid by the Minister of Health, Sir Hilton Young, on 22 October 1934.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imago-images.de/st/0080974821|title=Minister of Health, Sir Hilton Young, lays the foundation stone of Hackney s new Town Hall, 22 October 1934|publisher=Imago Images|accessdate=30 April 2020}}</ref> It was designed by Lanchester and Lodge in the Art Deco style and officially opened by the Chairman of London County Council, Lord Snell, on 3 July 1937.<ref>{{cite book|title=Invitation to Hackney Town Hall Opening Ceremony|year=1937}}</ref> The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with thirteen bays facing onto Mare Street; the central section of five bays featured a doorway flanked by windows on either side on the ground floor; there were five round headed widows leading onto a balcony on the first floor with a clock and the borough coat of arms above.<ref name=nhle/> The principal rooms were the council chamber, the mayor's parlour, the members' room and an assembly hall running along the rear of the building.<ref name=nhle/>
The building continued to be the local seat of government after the formation of the enlarged London Borough of Hackney in 1965.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/33/contents|title=Local Government Act 1963|publisher=Legislation.gov.uk|accessdate=25 April 2020}}</ref> However, many of the council officers and their departments, who had been located in disparate departments around the area, moved to the new Hackney Service Centre in Hillman Street, designed by Hopkins Architects, in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.e-architect.co.uk/london/hackney-service-centre|title=Hackney Service Centre|publisher=E-Architect|accessdate=3 May 2020}}</ref>
An extensive refurbishment of the town Hall to the designs of Hawkins\Brown was completed in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hawkinsbrown.com/projects/hackney-town-hall|title=Hackney Town Hall|publisher=Hawkins\Brown|accessdate=3 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.building.co.uk/buildings/projects-hackney-town-hall/5090762.article|title=Projects: Hackney town hall|publisher=Building|date=23 November 2017|accessdate=3 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.c20society.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/2012-2403-CivicPlungeRevisitedlowres2.pdf|title=The Civic Plunge Revisited|date=24 March 2012|publisher=Twentieth Century Society|accessdate=25 April 2020}}</ref> Extinction Rebellion held a series of protests in East London followed by a people's assembly outside the town hall in July 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/13/extinction-rebellion-kick-off-weekend-of-protest-with-dalston-blockade |title=Extinction Rebellion kick off weekend of protest with Dalston blockade |newspaper=The Guardian|author=Nosheen Iqbal |date=13 July 2019|accessdate=3 May 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} * [https://www.hackneyvenues.com/hackney-town-hall Hackney Town Hall - Hackney Venues]
Category:Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hackney Category:City and town halls in London Category:Government buildings completed in 1937 Category:Grade II listed government buildings