Caxton Hall

Following a design competition set by the parishes of St Margaret and St John,{{cite encyclopedia| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAA9olZqPSMC&dq=%22Caxton+Hall%22&pg=PA137| title=Caxton Hall| encyclopedia=The London Encyclopaedia| first1=Christopher| last1=Hibbert| author2=Ben Weinreb| author3=John Keay| author4=Julia Keay| author5=Matthew Weinreb| publisher=Macmillan| year=2009| isbn=978-1405049252}} the chosen design was a proposal by William Lee and F.J. Smith in an ornate Francois I style using red brick and pink sandstone, with slate roofs.{{NHLE|num=1357266|desc= Caxton Hall|accessdate= 27 July 2011}} The foundation stone was laid by the philanthropist, Baroness Burdett-Coutts, on 29 March 1882.{{cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/caxton-hall-foundation-stone|title=Caxton Hall - foundation stone|publisher=London Remembers|access-date=30 August 2020}} The facility, which contained two public halls known as the Great and York Halls, was opened as "Westminster Town Hall" in 1883.[http://legacy.london.gov.uk/mayor/planning_decisions/strategic_dev/2003/oct0803/caxton_hall_report.pdf GLA planning report PDU/0583/01] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317181446/http://legacy.london.gov.uk/mayor/planning_decisions/strategic_dev/2003/oct0803/caxton_hall_report.pdf|date=17 March 2012}} 2003

The building ceased to be the local seat of government after the creation of the enlarged City of Westminster in 1900.{{cite web|url=http://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=7096%7CLONDON%27S%20TOWN%20HALLS|title=London's Town Halls|page=204|publisher=Historic England|access-date=16 May 2020}} It was renamed Caxton Hall at that time to commemorate the printer, William Caxton, who had worked nearby in the almonry of Westminster Abbey.{{cite book|first=John|last=Timbs|author-link=John Timbs|title=Curiosities of London: Exhibiting the Most Rare and Remarkable Objects of Interest in the Metropolis|url=https://archive.org/details/curiositieslond01timbgoog|year=1855|publisher=D. Bogue|page=[https://archive.org/details/curiositieslond01timbgoog/page/n19 4]}}{{cite web | title=William Caxton and the introduction of printing to London | website=The History of London | date=2014-04-25 | url=https://www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk/william-caxton/ | access-date=2025-01-24}}

However the halls continued to be used for a variety of purposes including public meetings and musical concerts.{{cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/bd8afee1-99c8-483f-a89b-92bd4bcb9418|title=Programme of concert held at Caxton Hall to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Pepys House|publisher=National Archives|access-date=16 May 2020}} A central entrance porch and canopy were added in the mid-20th century, now removed.

From 1933 on it was used as a Central London register office and was the venue for many celebrity weddings. This function closed in 1979 and the building stood empty for years getting a place on the Buildings at Risk Register. It was listed as a building of Special Architectural or Historic Interest on 15 March 1984. It was redeveloped as apartments and offices in 2006. The facade and former register office at the front of the building facing Caxton Street were restored and retained being converted into luxury flats (see Facadism). The rear of the building, containing the halls, was demolished and a circular office building, named the Asticus Building, was built on the site.

The building was the location of the First Pan-African Conference in 1900.{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=thHUIbmvvhkC&dq=%22Westminster+Town+Hall%22+dubois+sylvester&pg=PA201| title=Radicals in their Own Time: Four Hundred Years of Struggle for Liberty and Equal Justice in America| last=Lawrence| first=Michael Anthony| date=22 November 2010| publisher=Cambridge University Press| isbn=978-1139494076| language=en}}

File:1908 Suffragette meeting at Caxton Hall.jpg

The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), part of the British Suffragette movement, held a 'Women's Parliament' at Caxton Hall at the beginning of each parliamentary session from 1907, with a subsequent procession to the Houses of Parliament and an attempt (always unsuccessful) to deliver a petition to the prime minister in person. Caxton Hall's central role in the militant suffrage movement is now commemorated by a bronzed scroll sculpture that stands nearby in Christchurch Gardens open space.{{cite book| title=The women's suffrage movement: a reference guide, 1866–1928| first=Elizabeth| last=Crawford| year=2001| page=262| isbn=978-0415239264| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wo89DfZ-T6AC&dq=%22Caxton+Hall%22&pg=PA262}}

In 1910 the occultist Aleister Crowley staged his Rites of Eleusis at Caxton Hall. The series of performances took place over six weeks, and received mixed reviews.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFjZCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Aleister+Crowley%22+%22caxton+hall%22&pg=PA401|title=Aleister Crowley: The Biography - Spiritual Revolutionary, Romantic Explorer, Occult Master and Spy|last=Churton|first=Tobias|date=2012|publisher=Watkins Media Limited|isbn=9781780283845|language=en}}

In January 1918 Prime Minister David Lloyd George outlined the main war goals of the Allies.Alan Sharp, "From Caxton Hall to Genoa via Fontainebleau and Cannes: David Lloyd George’s Vision of Post-War Europe." in Aspects of British Policy and the Treaty of Versailles (Routledge, 2020) pp. 121-142. [https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003014089-7/caxton-hall-genoa-via-fontainebleau-cannes-david-lloyd-george-vision-post-war-europe-alan-sharp online]

File:1908 Suffragette meeting at Caxton Hall 2.jpg

During the Second World War it was used by the Ministry of Information as a venue for press conferences held by Winston Churchill and his ministers. This wartime role is marked by a commemorative plaque unveiled in 1991. {{cite web |url=http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/ |title=City of Westminster green plaques |access-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716210428/http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/ |archive-date=16 July 2012 }}

In 1940, Indian nationalist Udham Singh assassinated Irish colonial administrator Michael O'Dwyer at Caxton Hall, where O'Dwyer was giving a speech. At the end of the speech, Singh walked towards O'Dwyer and fatally shot him. Singh's motivations for the assassination were O'Dwyer's actions during the Indian independence movement in the Punjab Province, where he played a role in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre (of which Singh was a survivor) and ordered several crackdown against anti-colonial demonstrators.Nigel Collett, The Butcher of Amritsar (2006), pp. 246–247

The Caxton Hall was the location of the press conference that the Russell–Einstein Manifesto was released in 1955 in response to the threat of nuclear war and humanity destroying itself.{{cite book |last=Rotblat |first=Joseph |title=Proceedings of the first Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs |publisher=Pugwash Council |location=London |date=1982 |page=6 |oclc=934755212}}

On 12 May 1960, over 1,000 people attended the first public meeting of the Homosexual Law Reform Society.{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/collections1/sexual-offences-act-1967/homosexual-law-reform-society-pamphlet/|title=Homosexual Law Reform Society Pamphlet|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=16 May 2020}}

The National Front was formed at a meeting in Caxton Hall, Westminster on 7 February 1967.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/luxuryhomes/8867380/Caxton-Hall-A-pied-a-terre-with-a-rich-history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107192514/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/luxuryhomes/8867380/Caxton-Hall-A-pied-a-terre-with-a-rich-history.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 November 2011 |title=Caxton Hall: A pied-à-terre with a rich history |date=7 November 2011 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |first=Ed |last=Cumming}}

It was also used as a central London register office for weddings from October 1933 to 1978.{{Cite news|url=https://www.westminster.gov.uk/locations-westminster-registration-records|title=Locations of Westminster registration records|date=24 January 2014|work=Westminster City Council|access-date=10 October 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204074314/https://www.westminster.gov.uk/registrars/locations-westminster-registration-records|archive-date=4 December 2023|url-status=dead}} On 18 August 1952, future Prime Minister Anthony Eden married Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, the niece of the then Prime Minister Winston Churchill.[http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist/BHC_RTV/1952/08/18/BGU412230036/?s=*&v=0&a=0 Mr. Eden weds niece of the Prime Minister] ITN News, 18 August 1952. Accessed July 2011 Other notable people who were married there include; Donald Campbell, Elizabeth Taylor, Roger Moore, Adam Faith, Joan Collins, Peter Sellers, Yehudi Menuhin, and Ringo Starr.[http://www.molas.org.uk/projects/annualReviearyear=2004&category=3§ion=1 MoLAS 2004 Report] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120912051028/http://www.molas.org.uk/projects/annualReviews.asp?aryear=2004&category=3§ion=1 |date=12 September 2012 }} Museum of London Archaeology, Caxton Hall, March 2004 . Accessed July 2011

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{{Commons category|Caxton Hall}}

• [http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/2009/06/caxton-hall-in-westminster-and-the-marriage-of-diana-dors-to-dennis-hamilton/ Caxton Hall in Westminster and the marriage of Diana Dors to Dennis Hamilton] Another Nickel in the Machine. Accessed July 2011. Many pictures of Caxton Hall events.

Category:Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster

Category:Government buildings completed in 1883

Category:Jallianwala Bagh massacre

Category:1883 establishments in England