WOODFORD PARISH CHURCH MEMORIAL HALL

ANNUAL LECTURE

Supported by

To be taken on a virtual tour of the Memorial Hall

by the photographer Frank Wieder, click here.

The first Memorial Hall lecture took place in April 2006, when Peter Lawrence presented ‘From Country House to Community Hall’ a lecture on the history of the hall’s site.  In October 2006, Derek Baker talked about William Morris and his Essex roots and for the third lecture, in December 2007, the Very Revd. Dr John Arnold, a former Dean of Durham Cathedral, gave a personal reminiscence of Woodford during the 1940’s and 1950’s and of Sylvia Pankhurst, for whom his mother worked as a secretary.

Tickets £6 (to include light refreshments after the lecture) from the Hall Manager (020 8505 3352) or on the door.

Most people find old buildings delightful - not just some old buildings, but practically all of them. In contrast, many modern buildings, especially those built about 40 years ago, look like ghastly mistakes. A lot of buildings of this age are being demolished - but not all them. How will the survivors be viewed when they are 100 years old? We cannot be sure, but history suggests that they too will become heritage. Perhaps we should try to escape from this cycle of fashion and judge buildings by their merit, not their age. 

 Dr William Fawcett went to Brentwood School, Essex, and studied architecture at Cambridge. He taught at the University of Hong Kong in the 1980s and since then has worked with Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd on many projects, including conservation plans for old and new heritage buildings such as the National Maritime Museum, Constable's Flatford Mill, and the University of East Anglia. He is currently the Chadwick Fellow in Architecture at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

This year’s lecture is dedicated to the memory of the architect Ian Noble, who did so much to preserve and enhance the Memorial Hall before his death last year.