Fairfield Hall is an arts centre in
CroydonCroydon is a major commercial centre in Greater London and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Croydon. It is south of Charing Cross, and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland 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 and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and opened in 1962. It contains a concert hall, the
Ashcroft TheatreThe 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. A variety of productions are held throughout the year such as drama, ballet, opera and...
(named after local
Peggy AshcroftDame 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
twinnedSister cities, also known as town twinning, is an agreement between towns, cities and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties...
with
ArnhemArnhem 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
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
recordings. The Halls are the home of the London Mozart Players, whose principal guest conductor is
flautistThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. 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 GalwaySir James Galway OBE is a Northern Ireland–born virtuoso flutist from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man With the Golden Flute"...
. Many famous faces have appeared at the Fairfield Halls, including
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
,
The WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964. The primary lineup consisted of guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They became known for energetic live performances including the pioneering spectacle of instrument destruction...
,
MorrisseySteven Patrick Morrissey , known primarily as Morrissey, is a British singer-songwriter. After a short stint in the punk rock band The Nosebleeds in the late 1970s, he rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths...
,
TrafficTraffic were an English rock band formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. They began as a psychedelic rock group influenced by The Beatles when releasing early pop singles , and diversified their sound through the use of instruments such as keyboards,like the...
(who recorded a live album in the halls),
FamilyFamily 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 explores other genres, incorporating elements of such styles as folk, psychedelia, acid, jazz fusion and basic rock 'n' roll...
(who recorded the first side of their album,
AnywayAnyway is the fourth album from the British progressive rock band Family. Side one was recorded at a concert at Fairfield Halls in the Croydon section of London; side two was a collection of studio recordings.-Personnel:...
in the halls),
The NiceThe Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their unique 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 BridgesThe 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),
Robert CrayRobert Cray is an American blues musician, guitarist, and singer. According to the book Guinness Rockopedia, "the 1980s 'blues revival' revolved around Cray...
,
Status QuoStatus Quo, also known as The Quo or just Quo, are an English rock band whose music is characterized by their distinctive brand of boogie rock....
,
Chuck BerryCharles Edward "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.Chuck Berry is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music...
,
Kenny RogersKenneth Ray "Kenny" Rogers is an American country music singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor and entrepreneur...
,
Elkie BrooksElkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. She is known for her powerful husky voice.-Life and career:...
,
Daniel O'DonnellDaniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, Hon. M.B.E. , is an Irish singer and television presenter. O'Donnell came to public attention in 1983 and has since become a household name in Ireland and the UK. He has also had considerable success in the US...
,
Shakin' StevensShakin' Stevens, also known as "Shaky" is a platinum selling Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter, who has the distinction of being the top selling male UK singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, although it was not until 1980 that he saw...
,
The SincerosThe Sinceros were a new wave, power pop band from London, England, who recorded two albums for Epic Records, The Sound of Sunbathing and Pet Rock . Both albums were released worldwide and achieved moderate commercial success. Only one album has so far been released on CD via Cherry Red records,...
, International superstar Petula Clark,
Hall & OatesHall & Oates is a pop music duo made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates. The act achieved its greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul." Critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine & J...
,
FreeFree were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968 and best known for their popular song "All Right Now". Lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become lead singer of the rock band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums...
,
James LastJames Last is a German composer and big band leader.-Biography:Last's father was an official at the public works department of the city of Bremen and he grew up in the suburb of Sebaldsbrück. He learned to play the piano from the age of 12, then switched to double bass as a teenager...
,
Bucks FizzBucks Fizz are an English pop music group, formed in 1981 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest that year. They won with "Making Your Mind Up", which is still their best-known song. The group was initially made up of four vocalists: Bobby G, Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston, whose gimmick...
,
Judith DurhamJudith Durham, OAM is an Australian jazz singer and musician who became the lead vocalist for the Australian popular folk music group The Seekers in 1963. She left the group in mid-1968 to pursue her solo career...
and
CoolioArtis Leon Ivey, Jr. , better known by the stage name Coolio, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and actor. He rose to fame in 1994 with his debut single "Fantastic Voyage", and later in 1995 with the hit single "Gangsta's Paradise", which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Dangerous...
.
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 to Croydon Central Station in what is now
Queen's GardensThe 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 wrestlingProfessional wrestling in the United Kingdom spans over 100 years but became popular when the television show World of Sport was launched in the mid-1960s, making household names out of Mick McManus, Count Bartelli, Giant Haystacks, Jackie Pallo, Big Daddy, Steve Veidor, and Kendo Nagasaki...
for many years, with various cards having been featured on
ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
's
World of SportWorld of Sport is a British television sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between January 2, 1965 to September 28, 1985 in response to competition from BBC's Grandstand. Like Grandstand, the programme ran for several hours every Saturday afternoon.-Early years:Eamonn Andrews was the first...
in the 70s and 80s.
Fairfield is run by a self-financing charity.
Fairfield Hall is an arts centre in
CroydonCroydon is a major commercial centre in Greater London and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Croydon. It is south of Charing Cross, and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland 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 and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and opened in 1962. It contains a concert hall, the
Ashcroft TheatreThe 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. A variety of productions are held throughout the year such as drama, ballet, opera and...
(named after local
Peggy AshcroftDame 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
twinnedSister cities, also known as town twinning, is an agreement between towns, cities and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties...
with
ArnhemArnhem 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
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
recordings. The Halls are the home of the London Mozart Players, whose principal guest conductor is
flautistThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. 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 GalwaySir James Galway OBE is a Northern Ireland–born virtuoso flutist from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man With the Golden Flute"...
. Many famous faces have appeared at the Fairfield Halls, including
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
,
The WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964. The primary lineup consisted of guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They became known for energetic live performances including the pioneering spectacle of instrument destruction...
,
MorrisseySteven Patrick Morrissey , known primarily as Morrissey, is a British singer-songwriter. After a short stint in the punk rock band The Nosebleeds in the late 1970s, he rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths...
,
TrafficTraffic were an English rock band formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. They began as a psychedelic rock group influenced by The Beatles when releasing early pop singles , and diversified their sound through the use of instruments such as keyboards,like the...
(who recorded a live album in the halls),
FamilyFamily 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 explores other genres, incorporating elements of such styles as folk, psychedelia, acid, jazz fusion and basic rock 'n' roll...
(who recorded the first side of their album,
AnywayAnyway is the fourth album from the British progressive rock band Family. Side one was recorded at a concert at Fairfield Halls in the Croydon section of London; side two was a collection of studio recordings.-Personnel:...
in the halls),
The NiceThe Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their unique 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 BridgesThe 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),
Robert CrayRobert Cray is an American blues musician, guitarist, and singer. According to the book Guinness Rockopedia, "the 1980s 'blues revival' revolved around Cray...
,
Status QuoStatus Quo, also known as The Quo or just Quo, are an English rock band whose music is characterized by their distinctive brand of boogie rock....
,
Chuck BerryCharles Edward "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.Chuck Berry is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music...
,
Kenny RogersKenneth Ray "Kenny" Rogers is an American country music singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor and entrepreneur...
,
Elkie BrooksElkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. She is known for her powerful husky voice.-Life and career:...
,
Daniel O'DonnellDaniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, Hon. M.B.E. , is an Irish singer and television presenter. O'Donnell came to public attention in 1983 and has since become a household name in Ireland and the UK. He has also had considerable success in the US...
,
Shakin' StevensShakin' Stevens, also known as "Shaky" is a platinum selling Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter, who has the distinction of being the top selling male UK singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, although it was not until 1980 that he saw...
,
The SincerosThe Sinceros were a new wave, power pop band from London, England, who recorded two albums for Epic Records, The Sound of Sunbathing and Pet Rock . Both albums were released worldwide and achieved moderate commercial success. Only one album has so far been released on CD via Cherry Red records,...
, International superstar Petula Clark,
Hall & OatesHall & Oates is a pop music duo made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates. The act achieved its greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul." Critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine & J...
,
FreeFree were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968 and best known for their popular song "All Right Now". Lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become lead singer of the rock band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums...
,
James LastJames Last is a German composer and big band leader.-Biography:Last's father was an official at the public works department of the city of Bremen and he grew up in the suburb of Sebaldsbrück. He learned to play the piano from the age of 12, then switched to double bass as a teenager...
,
Bucks FizzBucks Fizz are an English pop music group, formed in 1981 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest that year. They won with "Making Your Mind Up", which is still their best-known song. The group was initially made up of four vocalists: Bobby G, Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston, whose gimmick...
,
Judith DurhamJudith Durham, OAM is an Australian jazz singer and musician who became the lead vocalist for the Australian popular folk music group The Seekers in 1963. She left the group in mid-1968 to pursue her solo career...
and
CoolioArtis Leon Ivey, Jr. , better known by the stage name Coolio, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and actor. He rose to fame in 1994 with his debut single "Fantastic Voyage", and later in 1995 with the hit single "Gangsta's Paradise", which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Dangerous...
.
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 to Croydon Central Station in what is now
Queen's GardensThe 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 wrestlingProfessional wrestling in the United Kingdom spans over 100 years but became popular when the television show World of Sport was launched in the mid-1960s, making household names out of Mick McManus, Count Bartelli, Giant Haystacks, Jackie Pallo, Big Daddy, Steve Veidor, and Kendo Nagasaki...
for many years, with various cards having been featured on
ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
's
World of SportWorld of Sport is a British television sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between January 2, 1965 to September 28, 1985 in response to competition from BBC's Grandstand. Like Grandstand, the programme ran for several hours every Saturday afternoon.-Early years:Eamonn Andrews was the first...
in the 70s and 80s.
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.
However Croydon Council, the freeholder of the land, has had various plans to refurbish Fairfield over the years but none of these plans have ever come to fruition. The latest development scheme to fall through involved the development of College Green Next to Fairfield. This was this latest in a long line of grand plans for Croydon to come to nothing.
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.
Trivia
Fairfield's Concert Hall was used as a brief location for Robert Langdon's speech for
The Da Vinci CodeThe Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective fiction novel written by American author Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discovers a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of...
film. You can see it in the first ten minutes of the film where Langdon (
Tom HanksThomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander James...
) gives a talk to students about symbols.
External links