Our neighbours at the Courtauld Institute are holding an interesting event centred around the history of Hoxton Hall.

Built in 1863, Hoxton Hall is one of only two surviving mid-Victorian music halls in the city.  However, although licensed as a music hall, its builder and proprietor James Mortimer intended that the hall should be dedicated to the mid-Victorian project of “rational recreation”, “affording to the humbler classes an entertainment that shall provide instruction with amusement.”

The very first programme from the opening night of Hoxton Hall (1863) survives and is analysed by Professor Nicholas Till in this context.

More details and how to book a free place for the talk can be found here.