On Saturday 24 June, Shoreditch Town Hall opens its doors for another Town Hall Tour – the last in our current series. Guides Oonagh Gay and Paul Sinclair of Crouch End Tours will show visitors around the building, giving them an opportunity to (re)discover the vast interior of Shoreditch Town Hall and uncover the stories of the building’s fascinating 150-year history.
We caught up with Oonagh, who told us what she thinks makes our venue so unique, and what visitors can expect when they book for this exclusive tour of the building.
Why should people come along to this Town Hall Tour?
This tour offers a fantastic opportunity to rediscover the lost history of Shoreditch. The Vestry Hall was built at a time when the area was teeming with people, scraping a living, often in desperate poverty. Shoreditch Council offered hope, opening one of the first electricity generators which created power through incinerating rubbish, and fighting the scourge of cholera, through public health.
Come along if you like having a look at the working areas of buildings; if you want to know how the Town Hall was saved from becoming an apartment block by the local community; if you want to know more about the statue of Progress which dominates the front of the building and if you are interested in the history of Music Hall.
Shoreditch Town Hall is the only large venue remaining in Shoreditch from Victorian times and offered entertainment and escape, through its Music Hall artistes, and later, through its famous boxing bouts. These tours appeal to people who like quirky bits of history, undiscovered corners, and who appreciate the way in which lots of original features have survived in a building this age.
Hear what attendees have said about the tours so far:
“Finding the hidden Town Hall steps in the basement was amazing!”
“The free-standing, cantilevered balcony of the Assembly Hall is a real monument to Edwardian engineering.”
“I had no idea that this was a major boxing venue in the 1950s and 60s. It must have been so exciting – mixing with the Krays!”
Want to learn more? Visit our website for more information and to book your ticket.
Next Tour: Saturday 24 June, 11am. Tickets: £6.50