Fairfield Halls
Encyclopedia
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and opened in 1962. It contains a concert hall, the Ashcroft Theatre
Ashcroft Theatre
The Ashcroft Theatre is a theatre located within the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, South London. The theatre was named after Croydon-born Dame Peggy Ashcroft and is a proscenium theatre with a stepped auditorium. The mural on its fire curtain is by the artist Henry Bird. A variety of productions are...
(named after local Peggy Ashcroft
Peggy Ashcroft
Dame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE was an English actress.-Early years:Born as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon, Ashcroft attended the Woodford School, Croydon and the Central School of Speech and Drama...
), the Arnhem Gallery civic hall (Croydon is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with Arnhem
Arnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
) and an art gallery.
The large concert hall is frequently used for BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
recordings. The Halls are the home of the London Mozart Players, whose principal guest conductor is flautist
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, Sir James Galway
James Galway
- External links : IMGArtists.com 15 September 2008. AllAboutJazz.com 5 August 2008.*...
. Many famous faces have appeared at the Fairfield Halls, including Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
(who recorded a live album in the halls), Family
Family (band)
Family were an English rock band that formed in late 1966 and disbanded in October 1973. Their style has been characterised as progressive rock, although their sound often explored other genres, incorporating elements of styles like as folk, psychedelia, acid, jazz fusion and rock and roll...
(who recorded the first side of their album, Anyway
Anyway
-Side Two:Family's single "In My Own Time" was added to the American edition of Anyway when it was released by United Artists Records in 1971.-Personnel:Side One: Fairfield Halls, Croydon*Roger Chapman - vocals and percussion...
in the halls) and The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
(who recorded their album, Five Bridges
Five Bridges
The Five Bridges Suite is a modern piece of music, written in the 1960s, combining classical music and jazz. Written about the UK city of Newcastle upon Tyne, it was released as an album by The Nice which achieved the number two position in the UK album charts...
in the halls).
It is frequently used by local schools as the venue for their annual choral concerts.
The halls are built on the site of Croydon's historic fair field, and above disused railway cuttings which used to link the main London to Brighton railway
Brighton Main Line
The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 50 miles long, and is electrified throughout. Trains are operated by Southern, First Capital Connect, and Gatwick Express, now part of Southern.-Original proposals:There were no fewer...
to Croydon Central Station
Croydon Central railway station
Croydon Central station was a railway station in Croydon, Surrey, now in South London, England. It was a largely unsuccessful venture by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway to bring trains closer to the centre of Croydon, as East Croydon station was deemed too far from the busy town...
in what is now Queen's Gardens
Queen's Gardens (Croydon)
The Queen's Gardens are a small area of urban gardens in the centre of Croydon, South London. It is part of the Croydon Vision 2020 re-generation plan with Park Place. They are bordered by Croydon Town Hall, Taberner house, Park Lane and Katharine Street....
.
Fairfield Halls has also been used for British professional wrestling
Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom
Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom spans over 100 years but became popular when the then new Independent Television station - ITV began showing it in 1955 firstly on Saturday afternoons and then also in a late night mid week slot...
for many years, with various cards having been featured on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's World of Sport
World of Sport (UK TV series)
World of Sport was a British television sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 to 28 September 1985 in response to competition from BBC's Grandstand...
in the 70s and 80s.
In 2009, Fairfield Halls was used in the "SpecSavers" TV advertisements. It was renamed "Fairview Shopping Centre" in the advert.
The future
Fairfield is run by a self-financing charity. It was in receipt of an operating grant from Croydon Council of nearly £1m up until 2005 when the grant was removed completely due to financial difficulties at the Council.
The long-term commercial viability of the Fairfield was threatened by the local council's proposed development of an 12,500 seater arena on the Croydon Gateway site next to East Croydon Station. The council-backed scheme included a multi-use arena that would target the same income-generating markets that keep Fairfield alive today. On 30 July 2008 the Arena Public Inquiry finally concluded that an Arena was not financially viable. Planning permission and the compulsory purchase of the land were rejected. Croydon Council continues to seek an Arena.
In cinema
Fairfield's Concert Hall was used as a brief location for Robert Langdon's speech for The Da Vinci CodeThe Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...
film. You can see it in the first ten minutes of the film where Langdon (Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
) gives a talk to students about symbols.