The Great Acceptance: The Life Story of F. N. CharringtonThorne, Guy
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The Great Acceptance: The Life Story of F. N. Charrington
Thorne, Guy
Charrington, Fredk. N. (Frederick Nicholas), 1850-1936; Poor -- England -- London
"Size, beauty, and simplicity, are its three great qualities. But, so
true are the proportions, its vast capacity is not at once
discoverable. It requires some little effort to impress upon the mind
the idea that a ground-floor area, seventy feet wide by one hundred
and thirty feet long, is very seldom secured unbroken. All the seats
on the ground floor are movable, and not fixed as pews, so that when
occasion requires, an extensive promenade under one roof can be in a
few minutes commanded. And so again the large accommodation furnished
by the two galleries is not immediately perceived, the curving lines
of the architecture making no feature too prominent. The beauty of the
proportion subordinates every part of the building, and all unite in
a pleasing effect.
"From two spots a capital view of the hall can be obtained. Standing
in the centre of the uppermost gallery, looking towards the organ, the
eye notes the depth, forty-four feet in the clear, from the flat
ceiling to the parquet floor. The lines of the galleries converge upon
the double platform, with the choir space behind it, and the organ
recess, now concealed by the painted drop curtain. Placing oneself
upon the upper platform, the width of the building can be seen at a
glance, but not the length, the platform itself extending a good way
outward. If the length but not the height is to be seen, the point for
the spectator to station himself is at the entrance from the
vestibule, or a sweeping perspective may be even obtained from the
iron gate in the Mile End Road, the centre passage-way having an
uninterrupted line from the pavement to the organ; few such buildings
can boast as much.
"The illumination of the hall I heard frequently and favourably
commented on. There are upwards of 130 windows, which, being glazed
with yellow glass, admit a pleasant-toned light, whilst they wholly
exclude any objectionable view. The bright orange, complemented by
chocolate, of the decorations assists the aerial effect thus obtained,
and there is an additional benefit secured by the adoption of ground
glass windows. By shutting out external surroundings the hall is
rendered self-contained. No mean neighbours, murky atmosphere, nor
curling smoke distract the attention, which is left free to
concentrate itself upon the life within the building itself. In a
word, it will be quite possible for a visitor to imagine himself far
from the squalor of the East End of London, from the moment he enters
the Great Assembly Hall.
"The windows, especially the clerestory windows over the galleries
beneath the flat ceiling, breaking the line of the coved sides, serve
also to enhance the pleasing effect produced by the graceful lines of
the architecture.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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