The Old Town Hall is a former municipal building in the Mall in Ealing, London. The building, which is currently used as a branch of National Westminster Bank, is a Grade II listed building.[1]
| Old Town Hall | |
|---|---|
 The building in 2008 | |
| Location | The Mall, Ealing |
| Coordinates | 51°30′51″N 0°18′05″W / 51.5142°N 0.3014°W |
| Built | 1874 |
| Architect | Charles Jones |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic Revival style |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | National Westminster Bank |
| Designated | 19 January 1981 |
| Reference no. | 1189300 |
  Shown in Ealing | |
History
editThe building was commissioned by the Ealing Local Board which was established in 1863.[2] The site the board selected, which was on the north side of The Mall, was just south of Ealing Station on the District Railway.[3]
The building was designed by the town surveyor, Charles Jones, in the Gothic Revival style, built in rubble masonry and was completed in 1874.[4][5] The design involved an asymmetric main frontage of six bays facing onto The Mall. The first bay on the left, which was slightly projected forward, featured a bay window on the ground floor, a tri-partite mullioned window on the first floor and a gable above. The third bay also contained a bay window on the ground floor. The fifth bay, which was also slightly projected forward, featured a three-stage tower; there was an arched doorway flanked by colonettes supporting an archivolt in the first stage, an arched window containing a quatrefoil in the second stage and a lancet window in the third stage, all surmounted by a mansard roof with dormers and brattishing. The right-hand bay contained a doorway surmounted by a panel inscribed with the word "Offices" and by another quatrefoil. The other bays were fenestrated by arched windows on the ground floor and by sash windows on the first floor.[6] Internally, the principal room was the board room, which was located behind the bay windows on the ground floor.[7]
The architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, liked the design and referred to it as "more daring than most suburban municipal buildings of this date".[8][9]
However, with a decade, the building was considered too small for municipal use and a new town hall, also designed by Charles Jones, was completed on New Broadway in 1888.[10] The local board decided to dispose of the old town hall which was converted for use as a bank. It became the local branch of London and County Bank in 1889. It was then rebranded as London County and Westminster Bank in 1909,[11] Westminster Bank in 1923[12] and National Westminster Bank in 1970.[13][14]
References
edit- ^ Historic England. "National Westminster Bank (1189300)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "150 Years of Ealing Council". Around Ealing. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1900. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Remembering an important Ealing man". Wimbledon SW19. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "Charles Jones". London Remembers. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Former Town Hall, The Mall, Ealing". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "London's Town Halls". Historic England. p. 53. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002). London 3: North West (Buildings of England Series). Yale University Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0300096521.
- ^ "Ealing Town Centre Plaques Walk" (PDF). Ealing Civic Society. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "Ealing Town Hall (1358791)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "London and County Bank". British Banking History Society. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Westminster Bank Ltd". NatWest Group Heritage Hub. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ Oates, Jonathan; Lang, Paul Howard (2013). Ealing Through Time. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445617213.
- ^ "National Westminster Bank plc". NatWest Group, Heritage Hub. Retrieved 9 August 2024.