Wandsworth Town Hall
{{Short description|Municipal building in London, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Wandsworth Town Hall
| native_name =
| image = Wandsworth Town Hall-13492313114.jpg
| caption = Wandsworth Town Hall
| locmapin = United Kingdom London Wandsworth
| map_caption = Shown in Wandsworth
| coordinates = {{coord|51.4574|-0.1909|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| location = Wandsworth High Street, Wandsworth
| area =
| built =1937
| architect = Edward A. Hunt
| architecture = International Moderne style
| governing_body =
| designation1 = Grade II Listed Building
| designation1_offname =
| designation1_date = 8 June 1994
| designation1_number = 1244323
}}
Wandsworth Town Hall is a municipal building on the corner of Wandsworth High Street{{Cite web |title=Contact us |url=https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/contact-us/ |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=Wandsworth Borough Council |language=en-gb}} and Fairfield Street in Wandsworth, London. The building, which is the headquarters of Wandsworth London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.{{NHLE|num=1244323|desc=Wandsworth Town Hall|accessdate=16 May 2020}}
History
In the mid-19th century Wandsworth Vestry met in the vestry room of All Saints Church.{{cite web|url=http://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=7096%7CLONDON%27S%20TOWN%20HALLS|title=London's Town Halls|page=201|publisher=Historic England|accessdate=16 May 2020}} After civic leaders found this arrangement was inadequate, they decided to procure a purpose-built vestry hall: the site selected was a row of properties in the High Street.{{cite web|url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/525424/174781/13/100908|title=Ordnance Survey Map|year=1868|accessdate=16 May 2020}} The new building was designed by George Patrick in a mixture of the Italianate and French Renaissance styles, built by Mr Parsons of Wandsworth and completed in 1882. It went on to become the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth as "Wandsworth Town Hall" in 1900.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/londongovernmen00deptgoog/page/n7/mode/2up|title=London Government Act 1899|year=1899 |publisher=Butterworth and Co.|accessdate=16 May 2020}}
A modest two-storey structure faced in red-brick over channeled stone, designed by Ernest Elford in the Classical style, and now known as the "civic suite", was erected in the High Street to the east of the vestry hall in 1927.{{cite web|url=https://enablelc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Wandsworth_Civic_Suite_Brochure_2015-1.pdf|title=Civic Suite Brochure|publisher=London Borough of Wandsworth|accessdate=16 May 2020}} The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with eleven bays facing onto the High Street; the left section of two bays featured a canopied doorway on the ground floor with a pediment containing the metropolitan borough's coat of arms above; there was a row of round-headed windows interspersed with Doric order pilasters on the first floor. A projecting clock was erected on the outside of the building.{{cite web|url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMJMVE_Wandsworth_Town_Hall_Clock_Wandsworth_High_Street_London_UK|title=Wandsworth Town Hall Clock - Wandsworth High Street, London|publisher=Waymarking|accessdate=16 May 2020}}
This was followed by a huge stone facility to the east on the corner of the High Street and Fairfield Street, designed by Edward A. Hunt in the International Moderne style, built by Dove Brothers of Islington and originally known as the "municipal buildings". The corner section of Hunt's building featured a vehicle entrance leading to a central courtyard at ground level; there was a Vitruvian scroll bearing the borough coat of arms with five tall windows on the first floor; the corner section connected two blocks each of which had finials on the roof. The High Street facade of Hunt's building, which extended to 15 bays, was embellished by a frieze, carved by David Evans and John Linehan, depicting local historical scenes.{{cite web|url=https://www.architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/wandsworth-town-hall-london-the-forecourt-to-wandsworth-high-street/posterid/RIBA24592.html|title=Wandsworth Town Hall, London: the forecourt to Wandsworth High Street|publisher=Royal Institute of British Architects|accessdate=16 May 2020}} The municipal buildings were officially opened by Queen Mary on 14 July 1937.{{cite web|url=https://londongardenstrust.org/inventory/gardens-online-record.php?ID=WND034|title=Old Town Hall and Municipal Offices, Wandsworth|publisher=London Gardens and Trust|accessdate=16 May 2020}} The principal room was a polygon-shaped council chamber which projected from the rear of the building.{{cite web|url=https://www.architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/wandsworth-town-hall-london-the-council-chamber/posterid/RIBA73859.html|title=Wandsworth Town Hall, London: the council chamber|publisher=Royal Institute of British Architects|accessdate=16 May 2020}}
The complex continued to function as the local seat of government when the enlarged London Borough of Wandsworth was formed in 1965.{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/33/contents|title=Local Government Act 1963|publisher=Legislation.gov.uk|accessdate=25 April 2020}} The original vestry hall, which had suffered considerable damage during the Blitz in the Second World War, was demolished in the 1970s to make way for a modern office block designed by Culpin and Partners, located to the west the civic suite, which was completed in 1975.
Princess Alexandra opened a new borough register office in the town hall in 1993 and returned to attend a citizenship ceremony the council chamber in May 2012.{{cite web|url=https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/9687494.princess-alexandra-visits-wandsworth-citizenship-ceremony/|title=Princess Alexandra visits Wandsworth citizenship ceremony|date=4 May 2012|publisher=Sutton and Croydon Guardian|accessdate=16 May 2020}}