 The Limehouse Town Hall Consortium Trust would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2012. Limehouse Town Hall - London Open House  The Limehouse Town Hall Consortium Trust would like to invite you to join us in exploring the history of the Town Hall on the weekend of 17/18th September! Our building, which is usually not open to the public, will participate in this year's London's Open House event from 12-5pm on both Saturday and Sunday. In addition to various exhibits being displayed and information on the history of the building being made available, there will be a talk by architectural historian Kathy Clark on Sunday at 3pm in the Grand Hall. We are looking forward to welcoming you! Within These Walls - The Story of the Limehouse Town Hall In March 2011 the Limehouse Town Hall Consortium Trust presented an exhibition on the history of Limehouse Town Hall, researched by architectural historian Kathy Clark. The exhibition offered the visitor some fascinating glimpses of the past life of the building and its place in the local social fabric, as well as a rare chance to see inside the Town Hall itself, which currently is not normally open to the general public. We have now transferred key aspects of the exhibition into a document- even if you did not have the opportunity to visit the exhibition, you can now view much of it by opening the PDF attached in the history section. Upcoming Events: The Limehouse Town Hall has recently played host to The Secret Consul, a guerrilla opera about refugees starring refugees. Experiencing the power of operatic voice up close and personal made the event highly memorable. Coming up on the 17th and 18th of September, we are once again part of London's Open House weekend. These two days never fail to bring in people who can tell us a thing or two about what the hall used to be. Come along and we will give you the tour (or, you can give us a tour). The Limehouse Town Hall foundation stone was laid on 21 Oct 1879, and we will be holding a little celebration. Exactly what we do is open to discussion, so send us any ideas! ‘The Secret Consul - A Site-Specific Opera at the Lime House Town Hall ’ “If you’re an opera cynic – go. If you’re an opera fan – go. Very exciting work.” The show runs from Wednesday June 22nd to Saturday July 16th. Press Night June 23rd. Performances: Tuesday to Saturday 7.30pm. Matinees Saturday and Sunday 3.00pm Tickets from The Soho Theatre online. Box Office 020 7478 0100 ‘Within these Walls: the Story of Limehouse Town Hall’  The Limehouse Town Hall Consortium Trust is delighted to present an exhibition on the history of Limehouse Town Hall, researched by architectural historian Kathy Clark. The exhibition offers the visitor some fascinating glimpses of the past life of the building and its place in the local social fabric, as well as a rare chance to see inside the Town Hall itself, which currently is not normally open to the general public.
The exhibition explores the life of the building from when it was erected as a vestry hall in 1879-81, and alongside it some key aspects of the history of Limehouse and its people. It gives insights into the architecture itself, and how this neoclassical survivor of the blitz has changed over time, as well as the many diverse uses of the building, ranging from welfare centre, to museum, to bustling hub for entertainment of all kinds. It also explores the particular link of the hall and the local area with the labour movement. The exhibition is based around contemporary and modern photographs, plans and newspaper cuttings that paint a richer picture of the building’s history than has previously been available, and forms part of a project to expand that picture with the help of local people, who will be able to contribute their memories of the Hall to the Trust’s developing timeline of the building by having them recorded on the afternoon of Friday 25th March. 23 – 27 March 2011 1pm to 5pm daily Reception Wednesday 23rd March 6.30pm to 8pm Limehouse Town Hall, 646 Commercial Road, London E14 7HA
RESTORATION UPDATE Over the next two or three months we will be carrying out some essential repair and maintenance work on the building’s fire alarm and emergency lighting systems. We also hope to start the first main phase of repairs to the building, aimed at making it watertight, which will include the re-slating and repair of the roof, replacing or repairing the gutters and drainpipes, and repairing more of the large first floor windows. HISTORY SNIPPETS As some of you may know we are currently investigating the architectural and social history of the old Limehouse Town Hall. The aim is to use this work as the basis for booklets, our website, and for future exhibitions. These are some of the snippets that our researcher, Kathy, has discovered so far: We’ve discovered, in the Bancroft Library collections, a full inventory of the Town Hall from 1881, when it was first built, which lists all its features and fittings. We hope to use this to get a definitive list of all the original features that remain intact. We’ve discovered that Jewish weddings took place in the Town Hall in the 1890s. We’ve confirmed that when the building was a vestry hall it was used a dance venue, cinema, concert hall and theatre venue. If you have any memories/information/pictures/documents you’d like to add please drop us a line: info@lthct.org.uk |