Myddelton Hall

The relationship between the Myddelton and Wellington Halls, (the latter in use by the Barnsbury Debating Society in the 1850s), and the sequence of changes which produced the present building still need to be fully researched. Wellington Hall was probably on a neighbouring site. The Myddelton Hall may have been a replacement serving the same purpose, but it stands, curiously, almost face-to-face with the Islington Literary Institute of 1837, a handsome neo-classical building, now converted to the Almeida Theatre. The Myddelton carries the date 1891, but this could be the date of improvements. Its status had clearly changed by 1892 when it is recorded as being licensed for music with a capacity of 600. It remained licensed until at least 1912 (when the hall is noted as being in use for ‘theatrical performances, concerts and dances’) and probably until 1916. Some well known music hall artists, including Charles Coborn are said to have appeared here.

The street elevation is in gault brick with stone or stucco ornament, the single-storey body of the hall being in five, probably originally blind, recessed bays with segmental arches over. The parapet has lost its cornice. To the right, a two-storey entrance section is divided into three bays by brick pilasters. It has a segmental central pediment and the name of the hall and the date 1891 in the frieze.

The fact that a generous, more or less contemporary staircase rises from the present entrance to what was the rear of the stage, rather than to the auditorium, suggests the building may have been altered early in its life. The hall was certainly divided horizontally in post-War years with a shopfitting joinery works and showroom on the ground floor and offices above. This left the lower part of the proscenium, framed by fluted columns, visible in the workshops and the upper part of an arched opening on the floor above.

A radical domestic conversion to 9 units was completed in 2000.