Page 13 - HB- Church Road

Church Road Redditch Heritage

The Public Hall Building

The Public Hall was designed by the Bromsgrove architect, John Cotton, to complement the
Institute next door. The Hall was built in 1885 at a cost of £2,099, the foundation stone being
laid by Lord Windsor. It accommodated 700 people seated, and was first used in November
1886. The hall catered for several types of functions including variety performances and public
lectures. It was officially opened with a ball in December 1886, and in 1887 it was the venue for
a public dinner to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.¹³ Some functions, such as
the lantern entertainment in 1891, aimed to raise funds for charity.

The Worcestershire Chronicle 7 February 1891

Kelly’s Directory of Worcestershire 1896 named F. Briggs as the curator of the Public Hall, but
census returns indicated that no one lived in the building. Unfortunately, ‘for a boy named Allcock’
in 1888 the Public Hall had a large notice board outside. The reporter described the incident as
taking place in ‘Church-street’, but fortunately the census enumerators did not make the same
mistake.

The Worcestershire Chronicle 7 January 1888

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