Conway Hall in

Red Lion Square Red Lion Square is a small square in Holborn, London. The square was laid out in 1684 by Nicholas Barbon, taking its name from the Red Lion Inn. According to some sources, the bodies of three regicides—Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and H ...

, London, is the headquarters of the Conway Hall Ethical Society. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

Invitation to the opening of Conway Hall

The building was commissioned by the South Place Ethical Society, which had previously been accommodated in a chapel in South Place, near Finsbury Circus. The site they selected, in Red Lion Square, was a tenement, previously used as a factory belonging to James Perry, a pen and ink maker. The new building was designed by Frederick Mansford in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, built in silver-grey brick with red brick detailing and was officially opened on 23 September 1929. It was named after an American, Moncure D. Conway, who led the Society from 1864 to 1885 and from 1892 to 1897. Speakers at Conway Hall have included

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

, who took part in a demonstration demanding freedom of the press there in November 1945. During a National Front meeting at the building in June 1974, there were clashes between the National Front, anti-fascists, and police stationed to keep the peace; 54 demonstrators were arrested, many were injured, and one anti-fascist, Kevin Gateley, was killed.

Architecture

The new building was built on an L-shaped strip of land which the Society had acquired between Theobalds Road and Lamb's Conduit Passage. It was Mansford's largest project. The main entrance is located on an angle with a narrow arch rising to the top of the first floor. The arch is flanked by two columns in silver-grey brick while the rest of the building is varied with red-brick detailing. There is an opening with four doors on the ground floor, a

Diocletian window Diocletian windows, also called thermal windows, are large semicircular windows characteristic of the enormous public baths (''thermae'') of Ancient Rome. They have been revived on a limited basis by some neo-classical architecture, classical rev ...

on the first floor and a Venetian Window on the second floor. The glazing bars form a distinctive tiny criss-cross pattern reflected in Conway Hall's logo. The general feel is that of the

Royal Shakespeare Theatre The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a Grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespea ...

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

. Mansford was aware that his design could appear incoherent and tried to make the elevation hang together by placing six stone urns, bought from a City bank, along roof level, two of them on top of the entrance columns. The main auditorium can hold 300 plus 180 in a gallery, and in recent years has been used as a corporate events space for conferences and product launches. The use of wooden panelling nailed directly to the brickwork and of acoustic plaster gives the hall excellent acoustic qualities; this makes it very suitable for the performance of music, and there have been regular recordings and concerts there. The ceiling of the auditorium was glazed, and this made it very light and airy for the time. It opened in 1929 and has continued in use since. Above the proscenium arch the words "To Thine Own Self Be True" (quoting

Polonius Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. He is the chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the cou ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'') can be seen. These words were originally inscribed on the back wall of the red mahogany panel at the original South Place Chapel.

Library

The Humanist Library and Archives based on the first floor is the UK's foremost resource of its kind in Europe and the only library in the UK solely dedicated to the collection of Humanist material.

Film location

The hall has been used as a location for various film and television productions. The building has appeared in '' Mr. Holmes'' and '' Hereafter''.

References

{{reflist Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Buildings and structures completed in 1929