St Stephen's Church Hall

Summary

A detached Church Hall within the boundary wall of the Church of St Stephen, built in 1908, to a design by EA Pearce.

Reasons for Designation

St Stephen's Church Hall, Hampstead, built in 1908 to the designs of the architect EA Pearce, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* though simple in plan and form the architectural detail of the building is consistently strong and well-executed, managing to echo the Church of St Stephen, and the gates, piers, and boundary wall, whilst also creating an inventive forward-looking design;
* the sympathetic materials are used to strong architectural effect, with contrasting purple Luton bricks, stone detailing, and slate roofs;
* the exterior of the hall is little altered, and the interior retains its original plan, along with the majority of its fixtures and fittings.
Group value:
* strong functional and proximal value with the listed Church of St Stephen, and the gates, piers, and boundary wall. Taken together, they form a harmonious and complete ensemble;

History

St Stephen's Church Hall stands within the boundary wall of the Church of St Stephen, which was designed by SS Teulon, and opened in 1869. Construction continued for circa five years, concluding with the boundary wall and gates which surround the site.

The hall was unveiled in 1908, by the Mayor of Hampstead, and was designed by EA Pearce (b1870). Pearce lived in nearby Estelle Road, and in his early career was an assistant to Charles Barry (1823-1900). The cost of the build was estimated at £3,000, and £2,000 had been raised by the time the foundation stone was laid.

A classroom existed in the church crypt from 1873, and therefore it is probable that the hall was designed to allow expansion of the teaching facilities, which is reflected in its plan of a large hall, stage, and three original classrooms. Since 1949, the hall has been in use as the Hampstead Hill School.

During the later C20, a glazed partition wall has been added under the stage proscenium arch. A number of windows have been updated with larger paned-glass, and a mezzanine classroom has also been added to the NE end of the main hall.

Details

A detached Church Hall within the boundary wall of the Church of St Stephen, built in 1908, to a design by EA Pearce.

MATERIALS: Luton purple brick, with Portland stone detailing, under a slate roof. Timber fenestration.

PLAN: the building is single storey, broadly rectangular and is orientated NE to SW. The principal elevation faces NE. Internally there is a double-height main hall with ground floor secondary rooms to the W and S, and a mezzanine floor above an additional ground floor room at the NE end.

EXTERIOR: the hall is designed in a free-style with Arts and Crafts influences, using purple brick and contrasting Portland stone. The principal NE elevation of the building consists of a single-storey, three-bay entrance block with a gabled, double-height hall set behind. The outer bays of the entrance block comprise of studded timber double-doors, underneath round-headed stone arches and springers, which in turn are set in to small gables with stone dressings. The central bay has three high-set casement windows with leaded lights. Above there is a wide stone drip mould, below a brick parapet. The main gable of the hall is set back behind the parapet, and has four horizontal stone string courses, with the lowest intersecting a wide Diocletian window. The outer edges of the gable are supported by brick buttresses, topped with square and rebated stone capitals. The apex of the gable has a central arrow-slit breather.

The NW elevation consists of two sections. The NE section has four casement windows set between projecting buttresses which are topped with chamfered stone coping. The tall windows have four panes; the upper two are small hopper windows. The roof above has a stone parapet to each end gable, and a steeply-pitched timber cupola on the ridge, towards the SW end. The SW section projects under a flat roof, and to the NE end it has a set of studded timber double-doors, under a stone segmental arch. The brick work above has diapering in darker bricks, and the ensemble is surmounted by a stone pediment with central niche, and inset carved figurehead. The rest of this section is fairly plain and has timber casement windows. Behind the flat roof, the ridge of a pitched roof rises above the SW section of the hall.

The SW elevation has twin gables with horizontal stone string courses. Both have three timber casements windows; the central being taller. The fenestration stands above a stone moulded cill. The rainwater hoppers on this section are tulip shaped and made of cast iron. The SE section is of a similar character to the SW.

INTERIOR: there is a double-height hall of four bays, spanned by segmental-arched, timber trusses with steel ties, resting on shaped corbels. The internal walls are painted brick, and the windows to the main hall are recessed and set beneath segmental arches. At the SW end there is a former stage, the front of which has a late-C20 glazed partition. To the SW and W of the main hall, there are multi-panelled glazed doors with leaded lights giving access to class rooms. Other doors are multi-panelled and constructed of timber. Fireplaces have been boarded over but the ovolo surrounds are visible. To the NE end of the hall a late-C20 mezzanine floor and access stair have been added, over a classroom below.

Sources

Books and journals
Cherry, B, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: London 4, North, (1998 revised 2001), 205

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