The Assembly Rooms, Charlton

The Assembly Rooms, Charlton

A detached community hall built in 1881, designed by J Rowland in the Jacobean Revival style and constructed by W Tamsett. The building is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with decorative brick, stone and terracotta dressings and detailing. It has timber fenestration and doors, and a clay-tile roof.

The building is orientated north to south and consists of a tall single-storey hall with an octagonal cupola surmounting the roof at its centre. The principal elevation faces north in the gable end. Internally there is a double-height main hall with the main entrance to the north and a secondary entrance to the south-west. Behind the hall to the south are service rooms and a kitchen.

The hall is designed in Jacobean Revival style, reflecting the Jacobean origins of nearby Charlton House. The design is characterised by centrally placed Dutch gables and a wealth of red decorative brick, terracotta and stone ornament.

The principal north-facing elevation is symmetrical and consists of three bays articulated by tall fluted pilasters with stone ball finials, surmounted by a Dutch gable. A lower three-bay entrance vestibule articulated with brick pilasters is surmounted by a small segmental pediment. This gablet has a central stone tablet with a coat of arms carved in relief and stone scrolls to both shoulders, underlined by a brick dentil course. The three-panelled entrance doors below are paired timber doors with curved tops, set into a round-headed brick architrave with a central brick keystone. Either side are two-paned horned sash windows with stone cills, set between brick fluted pilasters. The returns of the vestibule also have timber panelled doors set into round-headed brick architraves with fluted brick pilasters to either side.

Behind the entrance vestibule, the main elevation rises and is surmounted by a high Dutch gable with a stone finial and applied stone strapwork. Underneath the main gable is a pair of louvred timber casement windows set into a projecting architrave of moulded brick and terracotta, including panels to either side depicting tall flowers rising from a vase. At the base a course of pierced quatrefoil tiles extends across the elevation to shouldered outer bays with brick pilasters surmounted by ball finials.

The side elevations of the main hall are formed of five bays articulated by brick pilasters, with tall mullion and transom windows with high-set drop-down openings. Above the windows the parapet has a brick dentil course and architrave with inset pierced quatrefoil tiles between brick panels above the pilasters, most of which carry stone ball finials. In the centre of each side elevation is a small aedicular (shrine-like with niches) brick pediment decorated with swags of fruit and flower motifs above a pair of window slits, supported by fluted pilasters. The main roof is clay-tiled with decorative ridge tiles. At the centre of the ridge is a timber octagonal cupola with decorative louvred panels and detailing, topped with a lead dome surmounted by a metal weather vane.

At the southern end, the gable of the main hall is visible above the service range and has a high-set oculus with horizontal timber louvres flanked by pilasters and ball finials at the angles of the side elevations. Extending beyond it is a lower link on the east side behind a stone rubble wall, leading to a single-storey range aligned east-west. It is architecturally functional with minimal ornament; the gable end has brick dentilled eaves. The south elevation has four multi-paned timber casement windows with stone cills set under the eaves. The pitched clay-tile roof has decorative ridge cresting and two tall brick chimney stacks rising through the southern slope.

Internally, the main entrance to the south has a vestibule with a polychromatic tile floor. The double-height hall is of five bays with a canted boarded ceiling with ribbed timber beams. At the southern end is a raised stage standing on a curved and panelled plinth with short timber stairs to each side. Either side of the stage is a deep panelled doorcase containing a solid three-panelled timber door. The floors are timber board on the stage and timber parquet to the main hall. The service rooms including the kitchen and toilets are functional and without ornamentation.