Fulham Town Hall is a municipal building on

Fulham Road Fulham Road is a street in London, England, which comprises the A304 and part of the A308. Overview Fulham Road ( the A219) runs from Putney Bridge as "Fulham High Street" and then eastward to Fulham Broadway, in the London Borough of Hamm ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, London. 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

The building was commissioned by the Parish of St John to replace an existing vestry hall in

Walham Green Walham Green is the historic name of an English village, now part of inner London, in the parish of Fulham in the County of Middlesex. It was located between the hamlet of North End (now renamed West Kensington) to the north, and Parsons G ...

. The site chosen had previously been occupied by a property known as Elton Villa. In the villa's grounds there had been a mulberry tree, which had been planted by

Nell Gwyn Eleanor Gwyn (also spelled Gwynn, Gwynne; 2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687) was an English people, English stage actress and celebrity figure of the Stuart Restoration, Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances ...

or her lover; it was chopped down and made into walking sticks in order to make way for the new vestry hall. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 10 December 1888. It was designed by George Edwards in the

classical style Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De architectura'' (c. 10 AD) by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Va ...

, constructed by Treasure & Son, and completed in 1890. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto Fulham Road; the central section of three bays featured an arched doorway with carved tympanum above flanked by windows; there were three windows each flanked by

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns on the first floor; there were three ocululi on the second floor and a

lucarne In general architecture a lucarne is a dormer window. The term is borrowed from , which refers to a dormer window, usually one set into the middle of a roof although it can also apply to a façade lucarne, where the gable of the lucarne is aligne ...

with another oculus above. Internally, the principal room was a large public hall, often referred to as the Great Hall, which extended deep into the building on the first floor. An additional block was built to the south east of the main building with a council chamber on the ground floor and a concert hall on the first floor. After the

Metropolitan Borough of Fulham The Metropolitan Borough of Fulham was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith to form the London Boroug ...

was established in 1900, it was decided to extend the building to the south west along Harwood Road to the designs of Francis Wood, the borough engineer. The extension included a mayor's parlour on the ground floor and some committee rooms on the first floor; the enlarged complex was officially opened by the mayor, William Sayer, as the new Fulham Town Hall, on 3 November 1905. The new façade to Harwood Road included a large drum clock, manufactured by

Potts of Leeds Potts of Leeds was a major British manufacturer of public clocks, based in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. History William Potts was born in December 1809 and was apprenticed to Samuel Thompson, a Darlington clockmaker. In 1833, at the age of 2 ...

and mounted high above the entrance (the mechanism would be replaced by a Gents' Pulsynetic electric clock in 1933). A portrait of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

by Richard Jack was hung in the council chamber in 1926. The building was extended again, this time to the west along Fulham Road, in 1934 to accommodate the local registrar's office. A large stained glass window, depicting

Earconwald Saint Earconwald or Erkenwald (died 693) was a Saxon prince and Bishop of London between 675 and 693. He is the eponymous subject of one of the most St. Erkenwald (poem), important poems in the foundations of English literature (thought to be by th ...

, who served as

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

in the 7th century, was designed by

Francis Spear Francis Howard Spear (22 December 1902 in South Norwood, London – 7 November 1979) was an English stained glass artist and lithographer. He produced more than 300 stained glass windows in over 130 public locations, including six cathedrals. ...

and made by Lowndes & Drury; it installed at the head of the stairs leading to the Great Hall in the 1930s. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Fulham for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London boroughs, London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 as the London Borough of Hammersmith from the merger of the former Metr ...

was formed in 1965. It was subsequently used as an administration centre and events venue. In February 2019, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham sold the building to a private developer, Ziser London, who announced plans to convert the facility into a hotel, restaurants, event space and spa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulham Town Hall Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Fulham City and town halls in London Government buildings completed in 1890 Grade II* listed government buildings