Hoxton Hall

Hoxton Hall is a performance arts theatre and community centre in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch, at 130 Hoxton Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. A grade II* listed building, the theatre was first built as a music hall in 1863, as MacDonald's Music Hall. It is an unrestored example of the saloon style. In the theatre, an iron-railed, two tier galleried auditorium rises on three sides, supported on cast iron columns above a small, high, multi-tiered stage. It survives largely in its original form, as for many years it was used as a Quaker meeting house. The music hall lost its performance licence in 1871 due to complaints by the police; it was sold, and the new owners applied for a licence in 1876, but were again rejected. William Isaac Palmer (1824–1893) purchased it on behalf of the Blue Ribbon Gospel Temperance Mission in 1879. Palmer was an heir to the Huntley and Palmer biscuit family and spent much of his fortune on charity. On Palmer's death, the hall passed to the Bedford Institute, a Quaker organisation dedicated to running adult schools and alleviating the effects of poverty. Today, the hall is used as a community centre and performance space.