Walthamstow’s Assembly Hall on Forest Road is a magnificent Grade II listed building of 1937 to 1942, part of the municipal Town Hall complex. Its striking Swedish inter-war design was the work of Philip Dalton Hepworth, the winner of an architectural competition launched in 1929 to design a new civic complex for the new Borough of Walthamstow.
Essentially designed as a theatre to accommodate an audience of up to 900, the Assembly Hall has hosted an eclectic range of performances over the years, from musical concerts, ballets, and light entertainment to boxing and wrestling matches.
One of the most unusual acts was a televised thought transference demonstration in 1949, by married couple Sydney and Lesley Piddington, famed for their telepathic radio and stage shows. Live televised shows were especially popular in the 1950s and ‘60s and many touring acts were booked to perform at the Assembly Hall.
The Piddingtons during their televised recording of thought transference at Walthamstow Assembly Hall in 1949. Picture: The Sphere (August 1949)
Acts gracing the stage in the 1970s and 1980s included the Keith Harris Show, Annie Shelton and the Million Airs orchestra, and a series of country music spectaculars featuring well-known names of the day. Theatrical and classical music performances were also staged, including by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Assembly Hall’s resident Forest Philharmonic.
In the 1990s acts included Steeleye Span, Paul McKenna’s Hypnotic Show, Barbara Dickson, the Dave Matthews Band and occasional special offers through the national press such as two tickets for the price of one for a ‘Rocking & Rolling 60s show’ starring Jess Conrad, Ricky Valance and the Vernon Sisters.
A 1976 advert for the Assembly Hall from The Stage
The Assembly Hall’s fantastic acoustics makes it not only an excellent concert venue, but also a stellar recording venue; big-name record labels including Decca, HMV, and RCA have made hundreds of recordings there, with artistes including Montserrat Caballé, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, Nigel Kennedy, not to mention the several renowned orchestras, amongst them the Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony.
The building has also hosted political events; Winston Churchill and Clement Atlee both addressed their constituency supporters there, and in 1959 it was the venue for a party held by Atlee to say farewell to his West Walthamstow constituency friends.
An advert from The Stage from April 13, 1995
The building has also been the focus of protest, as in May 2011 when hordes of locals gathered outside to await a planning committee decision on the future of Hoe Street’s 1930s EMD cinema, then in a state of dereliction under the ownership of UKCG. The meeting had been moved from the Town Hall to the Assembly Hall when it was realised that a larger venue would be needed, but even then the numbers attending exceeded capacity.
A 1978 Assembly Hall wrestling poster
The Assembly Hall has been a lucrative revenue source for the council for decades, and has been available to hire for weddings and conferences and for various entertainments aside from music and light entertainment. It was a popular venue for boxing and wrestling especially from the 1960s onwards, and wrestling matches in particular were often televised. The Hall has latterly hosted pro-wrestling, including Pro Wrestling: EVE, whose first bout for the ‘Strong Style Style: Road to SHE-1’ event in 2018 featured Chihiro Hashimoto and Jordynne Grace.
In 2018 the venue was rebranded as WAH17 and a revitalised arts and entertainment programme included silent discos, comedy nights, the Walthamstow Jazz festival and house and techno club nights.
A 2015 aerial view of the Walthamstow venue
The Assembly Hall is currently closed to events for the foreseeable future as the municipal complex undergoes regeneration and redevelopment, but given its strong place in the local community and beyond for almost 80 years, a continued high profile role is surely cemented for the future.
Karen Averby is a seaside-loving historian and research consultant specialising in researching histories and stories of buildings, people and places. She researches house histories for private clients and collaborates in community heritage projects (karenaverby.co.uk). She is also Director of Archangel Heritage Ltd, an historical research consultancy providing research services for the commercial heritage sector (archangelheritage.co.uk). Also found on Twitter @karenaverby and @archaheritage
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