Identity area
Reference code
AR1128
Title
Date(s)
- 1962 - 2023 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
112 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
In 1883 Croydon recieved a charter of incorporation to become a borough and became a County Borough in 1889. County Borough Status meant that the Borough was responsible for all its own services such as Fire, Police, Education etc. rather than these being provided at County level by Surrey.
Name of creator
Administrative history
Fairfield (Croydon) Ltd, a self-financing charity with a board of trustees, ran Fairfield Halls from 1993-2016. It went into administration in July 2016 when the venue was closed by Croydon Council to undertake a major refurbishment.
Name of creator
Administrative history
BH Live is a registered charity and social enterprise based in Bournemouth. It specialises in leisure and events and were appointed as operators of Fairfield Halls in July 2017.
Repository
Archival history
Fairfield Halls opened in 1962. It contains the Concert Hall, built in a similar design as the Royal Festival Hall, the Ashcroft Theatre, and function rooms including the Arnhem Gallery, Sun Lounge and Maple Room. It was run by Croydon Council until 1993, when Fairfield (Croydon) Ltd. took over the management of the building. It closed in July 2016 for a major refurbishment that included the addition of The Cube and a new studio space. The venue reopened in 16 September 2019 under the operation of BH Live, with Savvy Theatre, Talawa Theatre Company and the London Mozart Players as Resident Companies.
A large part of the collection was donated directly by Fairfield Halls whilst operated by Croydon Council.
Further material was acquired during the closure of Fairfield Halls in 2016.
Donations from the public have also been accrued into the collection.
While Fairfield Halls was closed in 2016, the Museum of Croydon embarked on a project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to catalogue and display items from Fairfield Halls. This project resulted in the recording and transcribing of 40 oral histories, the creation of a website, the ‘Fairfield Collection’ and ‘Art of Fairfield’ exhibitions in May 2017 along with a short film documenting the project.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The Fairfield Halls Collection consists of:
- programmes and diaries for events in both the main and auxiliary spaces (these comprise the majority of the collection). There is also a finding aid created from the published events diaries which list the majority of public facing events that were held at the Fairfield Halls. This can be searched by staff to resolve queries.
- marketing materials such as posters and flyers
- photographs documenting the construction of the building and key events
- administrative records
- material relating to the Fairfield Halls Corps of Stewards