Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Haringey Civic Centre 1958 | 1

The front of the now listed Civic Centre, just after it was completed.

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Tags (All lower case. Use " " for multiple word tags): civic centre
Albums: Historical Images of Wood Green | 2 of 2

Comment by Tony on June 6, 2020 at 14:20: My parents got married here in the early 1960's.

Comment by Madeline on June 12, 2020 at 15:01: I was married there in 1971 and my son's birth was registered there in 1978.

Comment by Hugh on June 12, 2020 at 23:49: It opened as Wood Green Civic Centre. It was definitely 1958.

Comment by Marcus on June 16, 2020 at 14:24: Loss of the alms houses is to lamented but restoring the listed building would give us back something to be proud of:

The Historic England entry says...

Haringey Civic Centre, 1955-1958, by Sir John Brown, A E Henson and Partners is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for its clear Scandinavian influence, the subtle qualities of which express architecturally the values of informality, transparency and modernity, defining aspirations of the post war civic centre as a type; * for its generous planning and creative use of space; * for its elegant and consistent application of high quality materials and detailing in the principal internal spaces; * for the level of survival of key aspects of the building’s character and physical fabric.

All things that could be said of Norman Foster's City Hall!

Historic interest:

* as the first civic centre of its size to be built from scratch after the end of the Second World War; * in the subsequent interest shown in the building by architects and councillors developing civic centre schemes elsewhere in the country.

Comment by Colin Marr on August 11, 2023 at 11:14: The building of the Wood Green Civic Centre loomed large in my youth. In the 1950s I was a pupil at Trinity Grammar School, which existed in the Victorian building behind the Civic Centre. The almshouses were demolished and the site cleared in about 1956, just as I was taking my O levels and the attached photo was taken from an upstairs classroom window, looking out towards the Fishmongers Arms. The other photo of the completed building is from 1958, by which time I was something of a precocious and nerdy 18-year-old enjoying using my first proper camera. I still think it is a remarkable building and I’m pleased it is listed.

Comment by Richard Woods on August 11, 2023 at 12:45: We used to bus past the site as the building went up on our way to the sports ground at Winchmore Hill. Years later I learned that my father's first wife was born and raised in one of the houses cleared to make way for the town hall.

Comment by Lydia Walter on August 12, 2023 at 9:07: Be still my beating heart. My parents got married at the Civiv Centre in 1961; St Swithen’s Day, July. I also got married there. And The Fishmonger’s Arms… I saw Status Quo, Argent and Audience there - line up outside, pay on the door: 50 pence!

Comment by Richard Woods on August 12, 2023 at 13:20: I only went to one wedding there - would have been about 1962/3 when two hacks wed - Daniel Nelson, North London Press and Lesley Downes, Hornsey Journal. Soon after they headed off to Africa and I have an awareness that Danny had an exciting life and met various top politicians but no details.

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