Camden Town Hall

History

In the early 20th century, St Pancras Borough Council was based at the 19th century vestry offices in St Pancras Way which had been commissioned for the Parish of St Pancras. After civic leaders found that the vestry offices were inadequate for their needs, they elected to construct a purpose-built facility: the site selected on Euston Road had previously been occupied by some Georgian terraced housing.

The new building was designed by Albert Thomas, who also designed housing schemes for the St Pancras Borough Council, in the neoclassical style.

In May 1957, the new submarine cable system, TAT-1, was used to transmit a concert by the singer and civil rights activist, Paul Robeson, performing in New York City to an audience in the town hall.{{Cite web

A "Caribbean Carnival", a precursor of the Notting Hill Carnival, was held on 30 January 1959 in the town hall, organised by activist Claudia Jones as a response to the 1958 Notting Hill race riots and the state of race relations in Britain at the time. A few months later, on 27 May 1959, Princess Margaret attended a meeting of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the town hall.

The building served as the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras and continued to operate as the local seat of government after the formation of the London Borough of Camden in 1965. A rooftop conservatory was added in the 1990s.

The council vacated the Town Hall Annexe in 2014, moving its main offices to a new building at 5 Pancras Square. The Town Hall Annexe was subsequently converted into a hotel, which opened in 2019.

In February 2020 the council started a programme of refurbishment works to the 1937 building, to plans prepared by Purcell. The works, which were managed by Lendlease at an estimated cost of £40 million, involved restoration of the historic areas used by the council and the redevelopment of the basement and upper floors so those floors can be let out as commercial space. The town hall reopened in 2023, serving once again as the council's meeting place and as an events venue.

References

References

1. {{NHLE
2. "London's Town Halls". Historic England.
3. Walford, Edward. (1878). "'St Pancras', in Old and New London". British History Online.
4. (7 November 2008). "Camden mulls tower at town hall site". Property Week.
5. (8 October 1937). "Lavish Town Hall". The Goulburn Evening Penny Post.
6. [[Donald Hinds]]. (3 July 2008). "Claudia Jones and the 'West Indian Gazette'". [[Institute of Race Relations (United Kingdom).
7. (27 May 1959). "HRH Princess Margaret Addresses A Council Meeting Of The National Society For Prevention Of Cruelty To Children At St Pancras Town Hall".
8. (24 March 2012). "The Civic Plunge Revisited". Twentieth Century Society.
9. "Conservation Area Statement: Kings Cross". Camden Council.
10. (6 September 2019). "Council defends controversial plan to renovate Camden's historic town hall". My London.
11. (10 July 2014). "5 Pancras Square, Camden Council's new community building, is opened".
12. "Camden Town Hall extension, London".
13. (27 January 2020). "'Much-needed spruce up': Camden Town Hall refurbishment costs rise to £63m". Ham and High.
14. (17 September 2019). "Lendlease set for green light on Camden Town Hall makeover". Building.
15. "Public exhibition". Camden Council.
16. (27 April 2023). "Camden Town Hall reopens after nearly five year refurbishment". Ham and High.