| Wilton's Music Hall
is a grade II* listed building, a former Music hall and performance space in Grace's Alley [1], off Cable Street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
|
WILTON'S MUSIC HALL TICKETS
|
History
Originally, the
Prince of Denmark Public House
(1828, also known as the
Mahogany Bar
, from c.1839) owned by Matthew Eltham.
The Mahogany Bar came into the ownership of John Wilton in about 1850. The
Music hall was built for him in
1858 by Jacob Maggs, on the same site, as the former concert room of the public house. The bar, itself, was retained as the public entrance, and the hall was built in the area behind the existing block of houses. This was common practice at the time, as 'street frontage' for music halls was very expensive.
The music hall passed into the ownership of George Robinson (1870), to George Fredericks in 1874, and then in 1877 to Henry Hodkinson. The hall was rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1877,
[2] by J. Buckley Wilson of Wilson, Wilcox and Wilson of
Swansea, when a raked auditorium floor and
proscenium arch were introduced and re-opened as
Frederick's Royal Palace of Varieties
. In 1880, John Wilton died, aged 60.
The theatre is an unrestored example of the 'giant pub hall'. In the theatre, a single gallery, on three sides and supported by 'barley sugar' cast iron pillars, rises above a large rectangular hall and a high stage with a
proscenium arch. In its heyday, a 'sun-burner' chandelier of 300 gas jets and 27,000 cut crystals, illuminated a mirrored hall. Today, charring is still visible in the rafters, where the chimney exhausted the heat of this massive device. The hall would have had space for supper tables, a benched area, and promenades around the outside for standing customers
[3].
Wilton's was modelled on many other successful London halls of the time, including the second Canterbury Hall (1854) in
Lambeth, Evan's New (Supper Room) Music Hall (1856) in
Covent Garden, and
Weston's (1857) (later known as the 'The Royal Holborn'). Wilton's remains the only surviving example.
Wilton's became a mission hall in 1888, and by 1963, it had become a rag sorting depot. The building survived use as a church, fire, flood and war intact, but virtually derelict. After a campaign in 1964 led by Sir
John Betjeman to list the building, and save it from demolition, the hall was finally purchased by the
GLC in 1966 and transferred to the Music Hall Trust. Wilton's was returned to performance by Broomhill Opera in 1999, and is currently used for both opera and theatrical productions. It is now owned by the Wilton's Music Hall Trust - who are attempting to raise money for the stabilisation and restoration of the building. In June 2007 the
World Monuments Fund added the building to its list of the world's "100 most endangered sites".
[4]
George Leybourne, known as
Champagne Charlie
appeared here, and the first ever
Can-can in London was (reputedly) performed here, and promptly banned.
See also
References
- Graces Alley is named for the former Cistercian house that stood on the site, known as ''St Mary of Graces'', founded in 1350, by Edward III in gratitude for the naval victory at Sluis. Between 1348-9, the district had been used as one of the City of London's main plague pits.
- The Times (Saturday 1 September 1877): 'In regard to the destruction of Wilton's music-hall at the east of London on Thursday morning, it may be added that the total burning of the hall was not the only damage ...'
- ''Building News'' 15 April 1859
- ''In praise of Wilton's music hall'' ''The Guardian'', 2007-06-08