Stepney Town Hall

Stepney Town Hall, formerly St George's Vestry Hall, is a municipal building on Cable Street, Stepney, London. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]

Stepney Town Hall
Stepney Town Hall
LocationCable Street, Stepney
Coordinates51.5109°N 0.0584°W / 51.5109; -0.0584
Built1860
ArchitectAndrew Wilson
Architectural style(s)Classical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated11 April 1990
Reference no.1242346
Shown in Tower Hamlets

History

The building, which was designed by Andrew Wilson in the Classical style as the vestry hall for the parish of St George, was completed in 1860.[2]

On 1 October 1888 the inquest into the death of Elizabeth Stride, the third victim of the Whitechapel murders, was held in the building.[3][4]

After being extended to the east along Cable Street in a similar and symmetrical style in 1899, it went on to become the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney in 1900.[5] The mural on the side of the building depicts the Battle of Cable Street on Sunday 4 October 1936 when a clash took place between the Metropolitan Police, sent to protect a march by members of the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley, and various anti-fascist demonstrators.[6]

The building ceased to function as the local seat of government when the enlarged London Borough of Tower Hamlets was formed in 1965.[7] It was subsequently became the home of various community organisations including St George's Boxing Club.[8] After it was converted for commercial use in the 1990s,[2] Unite the Union established a community office in the basement in 2013.[9]

References
  1. Historic England. "St George's Town Hall, Tower Hamlets (1242346)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  2. "London's Town Halls". Historic England. p. 189. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  3. Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook ISBN 978-1-977-37535-3 p. 76
  4. Yost, Dave (2008). Elizabeth Stride and Jack the Ripper: The Life and Death of the Reputed Third Victim. McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0786433186.
  5. "Limehouse Town Hall springs back to like after leaky roof is fixed". East London Advertiser. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  6. "Cable Street: 'Solidarity stopped Mosley's fascists'". BBC News. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  7. "Local Government Act 1963". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  8. "Sammy tells his story of bygone boxing era". East London Advertiser. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  9. "Unite Community Centre, Shadwell" (PDF). London Borough of Tower Hamlets. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.