Finsbury Town Hall

Finsbury Town Hall

Town Hall, 1895, designed by C. Evans-Vaughan FRIBA (died 1900). Unveiled by Prime Minister Lord Rosebery in June 1895, this is an exceptionally accomplished example of a town hall of its date and scale, with an interior of unusual elaborateness. Evans-Vaughan exhibited drawings for the building at the 1898 Royal Academy; it remains his most important work. Finsbury acquired borough status in 1900 and was subsumed within the London Borough of Islington in 1965.

The building occupies a triangular island site with its main entrance facing Rosebery Avenue, with irregular returns to Rosoman Street and Garnault Place. A courtyard lies at the centre, with a service gateway along the south-eastern side and a secondary entrance at the southern corner. The plan is irregular, with a central entrance leading to a staircase and lateral corridor at ground floor level, and main rooms arranged on the first floor; a secondary circular staircase is positioned towards the northern end.

The architecture is an eclectic "Free Renaissance" composition executed in a Flemish-inspired manner. Materials include hard red bricks glazed to the base, set in Flemish bond with elaborate rubbed red brick detail, combined with Bath and Portland stone dressings. The roofs are tiled and gabled with prominent brick stacks. Cast iron features include the porch, railings, clock and weathervane.

The north-west facing main elevation features a central entrance bay of three storeys with a stone frontispiece, a projecting cast iron porch with decorative leadwork inscribed "FINSBURY TOWN HALL" and triple lanterns. At first floor level is an arched opening with a Venetian window set back within a balustrade. The second floor contains a four-light window with stone columnar mullions. An elaborate cast iron clock is positioned above, set between stone finials at parapet level. To the right are six windows at ground floor with nine-pane sashes over plate glass and stone lintels; the upper level has four large twelve-light mullion and transom windows with decorative carved panels above, with a projecting tall chimneystack between the end-most windows. An egg and dart cornice of stone sits at parapet level. To the left of the entrance is a lower section with four ground floor windows; a continuous six-light mullion and transom window with columnar mullions; a modillion cornice; and a balustraded parapet, with a tall chimney stack to the left.

The northern rounded angle features an elaborate four-bay gabled end: four windows at ground floor; the first floor is divided by engaged Ionic columns with pairs of four-light mullion and transom windows set between them, beneath a stone frieze; a scrolled gable above is divided by stone colonnettes with stone coping, and carries a relief depicting the arms of Finsbury executed in cut brick. Behind is a gabled flank to the main building section with a tall octagonal ventilation shaft capped with an ogee-topped lantern and weathervane.

The east-facing elevation comprises a curved end section with pedimented window surrounds at raised ground floor level with two-light windows above, set between pilasters of rubbed brick, and oval windows to the parapet. A doorway with swan's neck pediment sits below. The rest of this elevation is an irregular seven-bay front with double doors to the centre bays and an inserted entrance to the southern bay. Ground floor features arched openings with heavy voussoirs; upper floors have irregular fenestration including an elaborate nine-light oriel window set within a rubbed-brick surround. Very tall chimneysstacks rise from the parapet. The southern angle comprises three bays with heavy voussoirs to ground floor arched windows. The upper section has a stone frontispiece with a carved band at first floor level supporting four Ionic columns between arched windows in stone surrounds with balustrades below; putti flank a portrait profile of Queen Victoria over the central opening. A scrolled gable above features a broken pediment flanking a central urn. Relief carving depicts female allegorical figures of Commerce and Navigation (above) and Peace and Plenty (below). The south-west facing return along Rosoman Street features two tall chimneysstacks towards the south end, a gabled end to the centre with a six-light mullioned window at first floor level, and a curved apsidal end with an arched door in front of the gabled end to the main block.

The interior features an entrance corridor with an arched ceiling and walls lined with veneer panelling; bronze panels list the mayors of Finsbury from 1895 to 1965. A spine corridor running north-south connects the panelled registry office (or "marriage room") and the part-panelled Mayor's Parlour with a bolection-moulded chimneypiece. A circular staircase at the north end has a wrought iron scrolled balustrade and is tiled to dado level. The main staircase was partially boxed in at the time of inspection. A brass dedication plaque on the landing records the unveiling by Prime Minister Lord Rosebery in 1895.

The former council chamber at the north end of the first floor features a broad vaulted plaster ceiling carried on Ionic columns, decorative glazing, a triple arched gallery at the south end with balustrade, and half-height panelling.

The public hall to the south of the main range is an exuberant space in the Belle Époque manner with an apsidal stage at the south end. The barrel-vaulted compartmented ceiling is hung from a hidden iron roof structure. Four bays on each side are divided by pilasters, with large plaster angels at upper level supporting four-headed lily candelabra. Windows are positioned on the north-west side, glazed doors on the south-east side, and mirrors on the north end wall flanking framed double doors. Allegorical figures of Music and Poetry in plaster sit over the proscenium arch, flanking a cartouche with emblems of the visual arts. A cartouche at the north end displays the arms of the Borough of Finsbury.

A modern plaque on the main front records the election of Dadabhai Naoroji as Member of Parliament for Finsbury in 1892, the first Asian to be returned to Parliament as a Liberal Member for Finsbury; he would have been elected from the forerunner of this building.

The double-depth basement was remodelled around 1939 by the architectural practice Tecton to serve as the control centre for Finsbury. While its fittings have been lost, it remains an installation of interest.