Lambeth Town Hall - a history

After the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth was formed in 1900, it was soon realised that the old Town Hall at Kennington Green was no longer adequate to deal with the greatly increased responsibility of the new borough.

The council decided to build a new town hall, more suitable for its needs and more centrally placed. The present site in Brixton was acquired and in 1905 an architectural competition for the new building was held which attracted 143 entries. Two young architects, Mr Septimus Warwick, ARIBA and Mr Herbert Hall, ARIBA submitted the winning design.

The foundation stone was laid on 21 July 1906, and the building was officially opened by King George V and Queen Mary (then Prince and Princess of Wales) on the 29 April, 1908. The total cost of the building was £48,000.

Queen Mary returned thirty years later to open an extension designed by one of the original architects (Mr Herbert Hall). The extension provided much needed office space and a fine public hall.

Exterior

The exterior is faced with narrow red bricks, with an extensive use of Portland stone, based on a grey granite plinth. The extension built in 1938 was constructed in the same style and of
similar materials.

The tower of the Town Hall stands 134 feet high and houses an illuminated clock which strikes the hour and chimes the quarters. The clock was presented to the council by Edwin A. Jones JP in 1909. There are four dials, each six feet (1.82 metres) in diameter: although no Big Ben, the hour bell weighs 2 tonnes, (2,000 kilograms), is five feet in diameter and is struck by a 75 pound (34 kilogram) hammer. The sculptors at the four corners of the tower represent Art, Literature, Science and Justice.

Another notable piece of sculpture is to be found on the wall of the Assembly Hall in Buckner Road. It depicts Youth rising from the past and is symbolic of Lambeth’s growth, development and future.

A stone table on the outside wall fronting Brixton Hill commemorates the names of 22 members of the council staff who died during the First World War.

Interesting features

The main door leads into a large circular entrance hall immediately adjoining the grand staircase. At the foot of the staircase are several memorial plaques, which pay tribute to the effort and sacrifice made by the citizens and employees of the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth during two World Wars. Another plaque, carved in marble by Mr. H.E.J Rayment, commemorates the members of the Lambeth Municipal Officers Guild who died in the two World Wars. Mr Rayment was a member of the Guild and the plaque was unveiled in October, 1958. There is also a brass plate listing the members of the Council at the time of the Town Hall’s opening in 1908.

The most notable memorial is the one in memory of Violette Szabo, GC, a Lambeth heroine of the French Resistance, dedicated on 20 March 1964 by the Mayor and Tanya Szabo, the daughter of Violette Szabo.

The grand staircase rises in two flights on both sides and leads to a circular hall before continuing in one flight to the first floor. The steps are faced with white Sicilian marble with green Cippolino marble dadoes and a capping and skirting of darker marble.

The circular hall is probably one of the Town Hall’s most attractive features with plaster decorated walls and paving carried out in Belgian black, Sicilian white and Siberian green marbles. The arch above each staircase is decorated with a crest; the Royal Coat of Arms on the left and the Arms of Lambeth Vestry (forerunner of the present council) on the right.
Memorial windows in the circular hall commemorate two former members of the council, Alderman Sir Charles Gibbs, JP and Alderman W.H.A Porter.

The memorial to Sir Charles Gibbs (Mayor 1907/8 and 1914/19) consists of three stained glass windows each depicting a Coat of Arms. One is the family of the late Sir Charles Gibbs, another is of HRH the Prince of Wales, who opened the Town Hall, and the third is of the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth. The windows were presented by the Alderman’s sister-inlaw and niece, Mrs R Sidney Gibbs and Miss Anne Gibbs, in May 1925.

The windows in memory of Alderman Porter depict Crawford School, of which he was headmaster from 1951-1963, and his
mayoralty 1949-50. The windows were presented and unveiled by his widow, Mrs Marjorie Porter, in June 1975.

Facing the grand staircase is the memorial window to the members of the 11th (Lambeth) Battalion, The Queens Royal regiment (West Surrey) who fell during the first World War. The design incorporates St George, the arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Duchy of Cornwall and the names of the
engagements in which the Battalion fought. An inscription at the bottom of the window lists the Battalion’s various commanding
officers and records the raising of the Battalion by the Mayor, Alderman Sir Charles Gibbs, in 1915. A book of Remembrance and a History of the Battalion are kept in the Council Chamber.

At the head of the grand staircase is a plaque presented by the Archeological and Historic Sites Board, Archives of Ontario to commemorate Lt-Colonel John By. Born in Lambeth in 1799 he founded Bytown, later to become Ottowa the Federal Capital of Canada.