Fairbairn Hall, a Grade-II Listed building in Newham was originally a Boys’ Club–one of the most successful in Europe in the 1930s–and formerly the Mansfield College University Settlement, founded by students of Oxford University in 1889. Whilst the heritage of Fairbairn Hall has been well documented and preserved there is a discrepancy between Fairbairn Hall’s recorded heritage and local knowledge. For example, locals no longer knowing what a Boys’ Club is. (Or was). Or that Canning Town has deep ties to Mansfield College, University of Oxford and the Settlement Movement in East London. Or that Fairbairn Hall is the work of the celebrated architect G. Grey Wornum, who is best known for designing the RIBA on 66 Portland Place in London, and the Queen Elizabeth Ocean Liner.

FAIRBAIRN HALL PRESENTS... is an initiative by the Newham institution’s residents and artists-in-residence to engage, activate, and celebrate the heritage of Fairbairn Hall and share its stories. For the month of June during NHM:2024 Places + Spaces with the London Festival of Architecture 2024 Fairbairn Hall presents its first heritage initiative during which Newham’s historic Boys’ Club opens its doors (and heart) to locals and architecture, design, and heritage lovers alike.

ABOVE: Choral Hall circa 1931, with murals painted by Mirium Wornum

FAIRBAIRN HALL PRESENTS...

Fairbairn Hall is a Grade-II listed Heritage England building and historic Boys’ Club on Barking Road in Canning Town, East London. It is the former Mansfield House University Settlement headquarters founded by students of Mansfield College, University of Oxford. Fairbairn Hall was designed by the celebrated architect G Grey Wornum in 1931
PHOTO CREDIT: @modernistestates, @modernistestatesholidays

Guided Tours every Tuesday in June; The Grand Tour on Saturday June 29 1pm

About Fairbairn Hall
Fairbairn Hall is a Grade-II Listed Heritage building in Newham. It was founded by students of Mansfield College, University of Oxford in 1889 during the Settlement Movement in East London (1886-1986), whereby the privileged built residences in slums and poor neighbourhoods and lived amongst locals to integrate with them, and ‘settle’ as a means of service and to improve living conditions.
The original Mansfield College University Settlement opened residencies on Barking Road in 1887; by 1900 the architect F W Troup completed Fairbairn Hall, a free neo-tudor style red brick building with yellow terracotta roof tiles, as the new headquarters for the Mansfield Settlement on 310 Barking Road. In 1931 Fairbairn Hall was extended, and its interiors renovated by Louis de Soissons and G Grey Wornum, who was awarded the Royal Gold Medal for architecture, in the early modern style.
Activities at the settlement included sporting clubs such as boxing, cricket, football and swimming, a drama society supported by George Bernard Shaw, a Loan Society, Coal Club and Sick Benefit Society and the Mansfield’s Poor Man’s Lawyer.

Boys’ Club members working in the Library at Fairbairn Hall: Mansfield’s Poor Man’s Lawyer was one of the first established in the country in 1891. It offered cheap or free legal advice providing local people with the information necessary to obtain a fair deal. In 1910 the Poor Man’s Lawyer was being copied in 23 centres in London

FAIRBAIRN HALL PRESENTS...

Photographs copyright the Aston-Mansfield Collection c/o Newham Archives & Local Studies Library

FAIRBAIRN HALL PRESENTS... Book Launch on Saturday June 29 1pm

A SPIRIT GUIDED
TOUR OF THE FORMER
UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT
AS IT WAS IN 1931

FAIRBAIRN HALL PRESENTS... Open House + Exhibition every Saturday in June 12pm—4

PHOTO CREDIT: London Picture Archive

OPEN HOUSE + EXHIBITION

Every Saturday
in June between 12pm–4

Opening reception
on June 4
@ 630pm–8

Closing bloc party
on June 29
@ 5pm–10

FAIRBAIRN HALL PRESENTS... Calendar of Events

THE PROGRAM

Tuesday June 4
OPENING RECEPTION
Come Over To Our House...
6:30pm-8pm
@Fairbairn Hall

Saturday June 8
OPEN HOUSE + EXHIBITION
Fairbairn Hall opens its doors–and flats
12–4pm @Fairbairn Hall

Tuesday June 11
HISTORY TOUR
Graham Barker presents the Settlement Movement
in East London
630pm–8pm @Fairbairn Hall

Saturday June 15
OPEN HOUSE + EXHIBITION
Fairbairn Hall opens its doors–and flats
12–4pm @Fairbairn Hall

Tuesday June 18
ARCHITECTURE TOUR
Neal Shasore presents G. Grey Wornum–and Miriam

630pm–8pm @Fairbairn Hall

Saturday June 22
OPEN HOUSE + EXHIBITION
Fairbairn Hall opens its doors–and flats
12–4pm @Fairbairn Hall

Tuesday June 25
DESIGN TOUR
Jessica Rose presents the Early Modern Movement, Women, Design
and Miriam Wornum

630pm–8pm @ Fairbairn Hall

Saturday June 29
OUR (FULL) HOUSE
Come over to our house for a full day of programming
–
12–4pm @Fairbairn Hall
OPEN HOUSE + EXHIBITION
Fairbairn Hall opens its doors–and flats
–
1–3pm @ Fairbairn Hall
THE GRAND TOUR + BOOK LAUNCH
The Residents with Graham Barker, Jessica Rose and Neal Shasore
–

3:30–5pm @Fairbairn Hall
IN CONVERSATION WITH...
Dr Brian Seaton and historian Jane Skelding present...Boys Club What? Oxford in Newham in the 1960s
–
5–10pm@Fairbairn Hall
CLOSING PARTY/BLOC PARTY
Performances by Artists-In-Residence Marcello Spooks

FAIRBAIRN HALL PRESENTS...

FAIRBAIRN HALL
310 Barking Road,
London, United Kingdom
E13 8HL

@fairbairnhallpresents

Site Design: Jessica Rose Font: MVSEUM designed by A2-TYPE
Photographs: Newham Archives & Local Studies Library unless credited otherwise

OPEN HOUSE + EXHIBITION

Every Saturday in June between 12pm–4 Opening reception on June 4 @ 630pm–8 Closing bloc party on June 29 @ 5pm–10

Every Saturday
in June between 12pm–4

Opening reception
on June 4
@ 630pm–8

Closing bloc party
on June 29
@ 5pm–10