ARCHITECT'S DEPARTMENT:THEATRES, CINEMAS AND PLACES OF ENTERTAINMENT

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: LCC/AR/TH
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: ARCHITECT'S DEPARTMENT:THEATRES, CINEMAS AND PLACES OF ENTERTAINMENT
Date(s)	: 1883-1951
Level of description	: Collection View parent record
Extent	: 3.67 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: LCC | London County Council x London County Council

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

In 1889 the Architect to the Metropolitan Board of Works was transferred to the newly formed London County Council, as the responsibilities of the MBW were being transferred to the LCC. This was later confirmed by the London Building Act 1894, in which the London County Council was given power to appoint a "superintending architect of metropolitan buildings" to oversee the enforcement of regulations outlined in the Act. Actual enforcement would be done by the District Surveyors, who had to make a monthly return to the Council reporting on any new buildings and any infringement of the Act.

The role of the Architect soon developed as the range of structures constructed under order of the Council grew. By 1909 there were 13 Committees dealing with construction works, and 35 sub-committees. The work included the construction of housing (under the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890), including slum clearance; construction of buildings in connection with the introduction of electricity; construction of educational buildings, from nursery schools to colleges; construction of hospitals and institutions; construction of fire brigade stations; street and road improvements; maintenance and construction of bridges; public parks; Weights and Measures Stations and Gas Meter Testing Stations. The Architect was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of all these buildings.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the London County Council Architect's Department relating to places of public entertainment, 1883-1951, comprising a large collection of plans and drawings of places of public entertainment submitted in connection with their licensing. They include not only plans and drawings of premises which have ceased to be licensed but the older plans and drawings of many premises which continue to be currently licensed. Exhibition halls are included under this general heading as matter of convenience, although the statutory control exercised over them sterns normally from the sections of the London Building Acts dealing with temporary and special buildings and structures and not from the licensing legislation applicant to places of public entertainment.

The collection includes plans of tea rooms, churches and parish rooms, lecture halls, public baths, club houses, taverns, schools, assembly rooms, schools, academies, town halls, theatres, music halls, and cinemas. Also papers relating to exhibitions at Earls Court, Holland Park and White City; papers relating to fires and panics in places of public entertainment and other public buildings; comparison between L.C.C regulations (1901) on protection of places of public entertainment from fire and corresponding provisions in provincial and foreign cities and historical notes on the statutory control of theatres and music halls.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

LCC/AR/TH/01: General and premises; LCC/AR/TH/02: Earls Court; LCC/AR/TH/03: Holland Park; LCC/AR/TH/04: White City.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright: City of London

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Acquired with the records of its parent body, the London County Council. Later accession received in 2001 (B01/042).

Allied Materials

Related material:

Papers of the LCC Architect's Department: LCC/AR/BA: London Building Acts; LCC/AR/CB: Council Buildings, LCC/AR/CD: Civil Defence; LCC/AR/CON: Contracts; LCC/AR/GEN: Organisational Financial and General; LCC/AR/HB: Historic Buildings, LCC/AR/HS: Housing; LCC/AR/PP: Presented Plans; LCC/AR/SCH: Council Buildings; LCC/AR/TH: Theatres, Cinemas and Places of Entertainment; LCC/AR/TP: Town Planning; LCC/AR/WAR: Emergency Wartime Measures.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
April to June 2009