The parish stocks, the lock-up, and the village's hand-operated fire pump were all once located close to where the vestry hall now sits. Robert Masters Chart, who was elected Mitcham's first mayor in 1934 and whose family was the town clerk and vestry clerk for five generations, designed this Victorian structure.
This detached structure has three different story heights—two, two and a half, and three. Robert Masters Chart was the architect, and it was built in 1887. Mansfield stone and red brick, as well as a slate roof, were utilised in the construction. It functioned as the Mitcham Local Authority's headquarters for many years, initially housing the Mitcham Vestry, then the Urban District, and eventually the Borough of Mitcham. The steeply pitched roof with its cupola and weathervane, the asymmetrical clock tower, the moulded brickwork on the first story, above the windows and doors on the ground floor, and below the eaves are the primary points of interest. The projecting corbels that support the eaves and the classical pediments on the doorways and one of the windows are also noteworthy. No unfavourable changes seem to have been made.
Parish council members gathered in a chamber belonging to St. Mary Abbots Church in the first part of the 19th century. The location they selected had previously been used by the church as a burial cemetery. In 1851, the newly constituted improvement commissioners determined that this arrangement was unacceptable and made the decision to construct a purpose-built vestry hall.
The new structure was created by James Broadbridge, an architect, in the Elizabethan style. Thomas Corby built it in red brick with stone trim for £5,000, and it was finished in 1852. Ratepayers were appalled by its completion and voiced their displeasure with the bizarre railings. A prominent bay window on the first floor, a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Kensington High Street, gabled end bays, and an octagonal clock turret on the roof were all features of the design. The central bay also had a small forward projection and featured an arched porch with a stone surround. In 1880, the ugly railings were eventually taken down.
The commissioners moved to a larger facility in 1880 after determining that the structure was too small during the 1870s. After being transformed, the former vestry hall became the Kensington Central Library, which Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll formally reopened in November 1889. Up until the Kensington Central Library moved to a new location on Hornton Street in 1960, the structure was still being used as a library. The ancient vestry hall was designated as a Grade II building by English Heritage on April 15, 1969, and by 1998, it was "the sole significant survivor" of the Victorian-era appearance of the street. Following that, Bank Melli Iran moved in.
​
Here's a local business that helps the community!
​
DIRECTIONS:
​
Funnell's Removals & Storage Limited
Hylands Nurseries, Carshalton Road,
Banstead, Surrey, SM7 3HZ
​