# Woolwich Town Hall > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Woolwich_Town_Hall > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Woolwich_Town_Hall.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolwich_Town_Hall > Source revision: 1318362331 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Municipal building in London, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox Historic Site | name =Woolwich Town Hall | native_name = | image =Woolwich town hall 1.jpg | caption =Woolwich Town Hall | locmapin =United Kingdom London Greenwich | map_caption =Shown in Greenwich | coordinates = {{coord |51|29|22.56|N|0|3|52.76|E|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} | location =[Woolwich](/source/Woolwich) | area = | built =1906 | architect = [Alfred Brumwell Thomas](/source/Alfred_Brumwell_Thomas) | architecture =[Edwardian Baroque style](/source/Edwardian_Baroque_architecture) | governing_body = | designation1 =Grade II* Listed Building | designation1_offname = | designation1_date =8 June 1973 | designation1_number =1289668 | website= }} '''Woolwich Town Hall''' is an early 20th-century [town hall](/source/town_hall) located in the historic [Bathway Quarter](/source/Bathway_Quarter) in the centre of [Woolwich](/source/Woolwich), [South East London](/source/SE_postcode_area). Until 1965 it was the seat of local government of the [Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich](/source/Metropolitan_Borough_of_Woolwich), after which it became the headquarters of the [Greenwich London Borough Council](/source/Greenwich_London_Borough_Council). It is a rare example of an [Edwardian Baroque](/source/Edwardian_Baroque_architecture) town hall in London and is a [Grade II*-listed building](/source/Listed_building).{{NHLE|desc=Town Hall, Woolwich|num=1289668|accessdate=13 April 2020}} The Town Hall is also the [register office](/source/register_office) for the borough. == History == Initially, the [improvement commissioners](/source/improvement_commissioners) for Woolwich, then a [civil parish](/source/civil_parish) in the [County of Kent](/source/County_of_Kent), met in a room next to the poorhouse and in the [parish church of St Mary Magdalene](/source/St_Mary_Magdalene_Woolwich).Saint & Guillery, pp. 254–256 ([https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.5_wellington_street_area.pdf online text, pp. 16–17]). The first town hall in Woolwich was built in around 1839, but was almost immediately sold to the [Metropolitan Police](/source/Metropolitan_Police).Saint & Guillery, pp. 252–253 ([https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.5_wellington_street_area.pdf online text, p. 14]). A [second town hall](/source/Old_Town_Hall%2C_Woolwich) was built in Calderwood Street in 1842. In 1855 the Metropolis Management Act provided every parish in the metropolitan area with its own local administration. In 1889 the [parish of Woolwich](/source/Woolwich_(parish)) became part of the newly formed [County of London](/source/County_of_London) and in 1900 the [Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich](/source/Metropolitan_Borough_of_Woolwich) was formed from the parishes of Woolwich, [Plumstead](/source/Plumstead) and [Eltham](/source/Eltham). This prompted the construction of a larger and more representative town hall, although the old town hall still survives.{{NHLE|desc=Woolwich Old Town Hall|num=1079064|accessdate=13 April 2020}} Construction on the current building, the third town hall, started in 1903. New buildings for the County and [Magistrates' Court](/source/Magistrates'_court_(England_and_Wales)), as well as a new police station and the existing library, formed a small administrative quarter. The architect, [Alfred Brumwell Thomas](/source/Alfred_Brumwell_Thomas), apparently submitted an earlier design, rejected in a 1902 competition for [Deptford Town Hall](/source/Deptford_Town_Hall). The construction was undertaken by Messrs J E Johnson & Son at a cost of £80,000.{{cite web|url=http://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=7096%7CLONDON%27S%20TOWN%20HALLS|title=London's Town Halls|page=66|publisher=Historic England|accessdate=25 April 2020}} The official opening of the town hall took place, without royal presence at the insistence of Woolwich Council, in January 1906. Instead Labour MP [Will Crooks](/source/Will_Crooks) did the opening speech, while the first [bishop of Woolwich](/source/bishop_of_Woolwich), [John Leeke](/source/John_Leeke) blessed the building.Saint & Guillery, p. 264 ([https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.5_wellington_street_area.pdf online text, pp. 27–28]). Between 1929 and 1930 a small annexe was added in Polytechnic Street. Across Wellington Street the Municipal Offices were built in the 1930s.Saint & Guillery, p. 253 ([https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.5_wellington_street_area.pdf online text, pp. 36]). The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich was abolished in 1965 and largely merged with Greenwich (a small section north of the [Thames](/source/Thames) went to the [London Borough of Newham](/source/London_Borough_of_Newham)). Woolwich Town Hall became the seat of local government of the new [London Borough of Greenwich](/source/London_Borough_of_Greenwich).{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/33/contents|title=Local Government Act 1963|publisher=Legislation.gov.uk|accessdate=13 April 2020}} Peggy Middleton House, which had provided extra office space in Woolwich New Road since 1977, was demolished in 2009.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/4209829.greenwich-council-staff-prepare-for-demolition/|title=Greenwich: Council staff prepare for demolition|work=News Shopper|date=17 March 2009|accessdate=13 April 2020}} File:2015 London-Woolwich, Polytechnic St, Town Hall annexe.jpg|Woolwich Town Hall Annexe File:Peggy Middleton House - geograph.org.uk - 971993.jpg|Peggy Middleton House File:London, Woolwich-Centre, Wellington St, Woolwich Centre01.jpg|The Woolwich Centre == Architecture == === Exterior === Woolwich Town Hall was designed by the architect [Alfred Brumwell Thomas](/source/Alfred_Brumwell_Thomas), who more or less simultaneously worked on (more ambitious) plans for [Belfast City Hall](/source/Belfast_City_Hall) (1898–1906) and [Stockport Town Hall](/source/Stockport_Town_Hall) (1905–1908).Saint & Guillery, p. 259 ([https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.5_wellington_street_area.pdf online text, p. 26]). It is a fine example of [Edwardian Baroque](/source/Edwardian_Baroque) in the London area. The building has two monumental façades along Wellington Street and Market Street. The Wellington Street façade features an imposing entrance of [Portland stone](/source/Portland_stone) with a [colonnade](/source/colonnade) and "broken" [pediment](/source/pediment)s. The other entrance on Market Street is decorated with military and maritime symbols. The Italianate [clock tower](/source/clock_tower), on the corner of the two streets, is 40 m tall. It contains a clock by [John Smith & Sons](/source/Smith_of_Derby_Group) of Derby; there are no bells.{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |editor2-last=Guillery |editor2-first=Peter |title=Survey of London, vol. 41: Woolwich |date=2012 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |page=264}} The six domes, four made of copper, that make up the roof can be seen from afar. File:2015 London-Woolwich, Town Hall 09.jpg|Wellington Street entrance File:London, Woolwich-Centre, Market St, Woolwich Town hall2.jpg|Market Street entrance File:London-Woolwich, Market St, Town hall & Woolwich Centre.jpg|Market Street façade File:London-Woolwich, Market St, Town hall tower02.jpg|Detail clocktower === Interior === The Wellington Street entrance leads directly into Victoria Hall. This large space is dominated by a tall marble statue of [Queen Victoria](/source/Queen_Victoria) by [F. W. Pomeroy](/source/F._W._Pomeroy), a stone copy of the bronze [Statue of Queen Victoria in Chester](/source/Statue_of_Queen_Victoria%2C_Chester). On both sides of the stairs bronze [World War II](/source/World_War_II) memorial plaques were placed. The hall is also used for exhibitions and for counting votes during elections. In the centre of the building, accessed via the Market Street entrance, is a public hall, seating 750 people. The hall has a large dome that provides daylight.Saint & Guillery, p. 265 ([https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.5_wellington_street_area.pdf online text, p. 31]). Stained-glass windows throughout the building depict historic events in the parishes of Woolwich, Plumstead and Eltham, for example the entertaining of three foreign kings in [Eltham Palace](/source/Eltham_Palace) in 1374, the launching of the ship ''[Henry Grace à Dieu](/source/Henry_Grace_%C3%A0_Dieu)'' at [Woolwich Dockyard](/source/Woolwich_Dockyard) in 1514, and portraits of [Thomas More](/source/Thomas_More), [Margaret Roper](/source/Margaret_Roper) and [Samuel Pepys](/source/Samuel_Pepys). The windows date from 1904 and are the work of [Geoffrey Webb](/source/Geoffrey_Webb_(artist)). Elsewhere in the building fine woodcarving and plasterwork can be admired.Saint & Guillery, p. 266 ([https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.5_wellington_street_area.pdf online text, p. 32]). File:2015 London-Woolwich, interior Town Hall 20.jpg|Victoria Hall File:2015 London-Woolwich, interior Town Hall 15.jpg|Staircase and statue File:2015 London-Woolwich, interior Town Hall 37.jpg|Stained-glass window File:2015 London-Woolwich, interior Town Hall 31.jpg|Council Room == References == {{reflist}} ==Sources== * {{cite book|last1=Saint|first1=Andrew|last2=Guillery|first2=Peter|title=Woolwich – Survey of London|volume=48|publisher=Yale University Press|location=London|year=2012|isbn=978-0300187229|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.5_wellington_street_area.pdf}} {{Commonscat|Woolwich Town Hall}} Category:Government buildings completed in 1906 Category:City and town halls in London Category:Domes in the United Kingdom Category:Grade II* listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Category:Grade II* listed government buildings Category:Government buildings with domes Town Hall Category:1906 establishments in England --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Woolwich Town Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolwich_Town_Hall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolwich_Town_Hall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.