" Arguably the best and most original surviving example of an early twentieth century community hall building in the Arts and Crafts tradition "

This historic Grade II listed building attached to Croydon Friends meeting house celebrated its centenary in 2008. Various proposals are currently being considered for its future. The hall is open for public viewing every September as part of Open City London and again in October during National Quaker Week.

About the Adult School Hall

The Adult School Hall belongs to the Religious Society of Friends in Britain and adjoins the current Quaker meeting house. When it was opened in 1908 there were nearly a thousand members in the Croydon branch of Adult School Movement founded by Theodore Crosfield, a 19th-century Quaker. The previous meeting house of 1820, destroyed by a land mine in 1940, adjoined the Adult School Hall at its east wall, and the foreground area was a Quaker burial ground before the road-widening of 1967. Its simple headstones were re-laid horizontally as a path along the western side (not visible from Park Lane) of the Adult School Hall, and the burial remains themselves transferred to the Queen's Road cemetery.

The Hall was designed by William Curtis Green RA (1875-1960), who later contributed designs to Hampstead Garden Suburb (from 1905), Letchworth Garden City (from 1902), municipal housing at Winchester (1919), and - his largest project (1930) - the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane, Mayfair. He was president of the Architectural Association (1913-14), vice-president of the RIBA (1923-4) and elected to the Royal Academy in 1933. Curtis Green obtained the commission for a hall to seat 900 people through the connections of his wife, herself a member of the prominent Quaker family of Crosfield. The cost of the building was donated by Theodore Crosfield.

The walls are constructed of local brick; Roman pantile clad roof; timber casement windows; and the flooring is natural pine boarding. Pine columns supporting the scissor trusses of the fine open timber roof, which is double square in plan, define the floor space into an airy central 'nave' with two side 'aisles'. The thin wooden scissor trusses of the roof are arranged in elegant geometrical forms.

In a lecture of 1912 Curtis Green clarified his intention of working within a continuing tradition of building design and construction whilst accepting and improving modern innovation which remains rooted in that tradition. The design is characterised by its manifest 'plainness and honesty'  - an architectural expression of Quaker testimonies. Truly remarkable are the total absence of applied finishes and the complete 'honesty of materials'. The design also embraces the principle of 'honesty of expression' in that the function of all parts and their purpose is explicit. For example, it is clear to the viewer which parts of the roof structure are load-bearing. Nothing is concealed; there are no hidden inner parts; no façades whatsoever. All ostentatious embellishment and extravagant decoration is eschewed, again a Quaker principle.

This building remains in a remarkably original and unaltered condition, all the finishes remaining as designed. Of the few significant changes made since, one is the loss of the original hanging lights, which were in the shape of iron 'cart tyres'. For an early 20th century building of this size to be in so unaltered a state and still with its original finishes is an extremely rare and very fortunate survival.

Based, with kind permission, on an article by Joseph Mirwitch in
the Twentieth Century Society Newsletter, Winter 2006/7

Following the destruction of the old meeting house by a land mine in 1940 Friends used the hall for meetings for worship until 1944, when it was requisitioned for accommodation for bombed-out residents and as a refugee centre. Meetings for worship were resumed at the end of the war and continued until the present Meeting House was opened in January 1957. Four of the carved benches that originally belonged to the old meeting house and were transferred to the Adult School Hall have since been retrieved and are now to be seen (and sat on - they are surprisingly comfortable!) in the entrance hall of the present meeting house.

Th Hall has since been used for various functions, including Nightwatch, the Woodcraft Folk, and as a venue for Croydon Friends' annual jumble sales. Over the past decade, however, it has been found increasingly unsuited to the pace and requirements of the 21st century and in need of considerable expense for upkeep. Accordingly, in 2003 Croydon Quakers commissioned a committee to consider its future. In 2004 MIND in Croydon expressed interest in refurbishing the Hall for a long lease, but they were unable to raise the necessary funds. We later considered a proposal by Eldon Housing Association to reconstruct the Adult School Hall as special needs housing units, which would have made fuller and more effective use of it, and one well in keeping with our principles. However, this proposal fell through when a Grade II Listed Building Order was placed on it and Eldon Housing were unable to obtain Listed Building Consent.

The Hall remains empty at time of writing (2011). Croydon Quakers are actively seeking a long-term use for the building that will be financially and environmentally sustainable and consistent with the restrictions of the Grade II listing. Serious proposals to this end will be welcomed by the Clerk of Premises Committee, Friends Meeting House, 60 Park Lane, Croydon CR0 1JE.