Hoxton Hall

How Theatres Trust helped save a historic performance space at the heart of its community. 

Hoxton Hall is a Grade II* Victorian music hall with a fascinating history. It was built in 1863 as a place where the working class could enjoy affordable live entertainment. Unfortunately, the music hall era did not last long and by 1878 Hoxton Hall had found another use as home for the girl guides, and then later to the temperance movement. During the war years, it became an air raid shelter as well as providing a space for community activities. It has continued to be an important community venue since then.

By the early 2000s, the building fabric was showing signs of its age, which threatened its future and led to Theatres Trust becoming involved. In 2004, we contributed £5,000 towards a feasibility study looking at options for restoring the hall and added the building to our Theatres at Risk Register in 2007 to boost the profile of this important venue. We were happy to support its successful Heritage Lottery application in 2010, after which we were able to remove it from the Theatres at Risk Register. Ten years later, the venue hosted our 2020 Theatres at Risk Register launch, celebrating a decade since it was saved.

We’ve awarded two more small grants to Hoxton Hall. In 2004, it received a £5,000 grant from the Small Grants Scheme to strengthen its upper balcony. Our most recent contribution to Hoxton’s story was awarding funding to the theatre from our Small Grants Programme with The Linbury Trust in 2024 to repair its fire safety doors. This project allowed the doors to be brought up to modern safety standards without compromising its Victorian aesthetic and the ‘wow’ factor its audiences love.

This case study was produced as part of our Fifty@50 campaign to mark our 50th anniversary in 2026.

Photo credit: Sean Pollock