A Victorian landmark at the heart of Ealing. This watercolour captures Ealing Town Hall on Uxbridge Road, its Kentish ragstone walls, slate roof, pointed gables, oriel windows, lancet openings, and asymmetrical clock tower rising above the Broadway.
Designed by Ealing's long-serving surveyor Charles Jones, the building was constructed between 1886 and 1888 to replace an earlier town hall that had become too small as the prosperous west London suburb expanded. Its Gothic Revival design combines civic grandeur with practical municipal architecture: a projecting entrance, tall central gable, turrets, an off-centre tower with spirelet, and the Victoria Hall at the rear.
The hall was named to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee and provided a public space for dances, concerts, wedding receptions, political meetings, clubs, and local societies. The Prince and Princess of Wales opened the building on 15 December 1888, accompanied by their children, including the future King George V. Further extensions in the 1910s and 1930, including the octagonal-towered entrance designed by George Fellowes Prynne, created the complex seen today. Still used for civic and community purposes, Ealing Town Hall remains a Grade II listed symbol of the borough's growth and local democratic life.
Interesting facts...
The opening ceremony took place in miserably foggy December weather, yet the Prince of Wales arrived to streets decorated for a royal spectacle and was handed a golden key to open the Victoria Hall. A local choir sang Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, turning the municipal opening into a full theatrical performance.
During the First World War, a tank was parked outside the town hall to encourage residents to buy war bonds and contribute to the national war effort. In 1940, the building was surrounded by a protective wall during the Blitz; despite the danger, it survived relatively unscathed. The town hall cost £16,000 to build — funded partly through local contributions, including £500 donations from Baron Rothschild and Sir Edward Montagu-Nelson. The Victoria Hall was deliberately designed as a social headquarters for Ealing's clubs and societies, so the building functioned as much as a community meeting place as a government office. The asymmetrical facade is intentional, the off-centre clock tower balances the long frontage.
Ealing's first town hall was also designed by Charles Jones, completed in 1874 but became inadequate within a decade because the suburb grew so quickly! This due to the arrival of the District Railway in 1879.
The Prince of Wales described the building as handsome, lofty, well-proportioned, and admirably suited to public use, a royal review that I fully support.
Location: New Broadway, Ealing, London W5 2BY
