Assembly Halls of Our Own

In addition to annual conventions, we also hold smaller assemblies during the year. In 1969 the number of Kingdom proclaimers in Britain was 55,876, but within four years those sharing the good news with others increased to 65,348. Up till then, halls had been hired to accommodate our circuit assemblies, but it was becoming more and more difficult to find suitable locations at reasonable prices.

By the 1970’s, it was obvious that we needed our own assembly halls. Meetings of responsible brothers were held, and the search for suitable sites got under way. At first they planned in terms of renovating existing buildings. Early in 1975 they negotiated the purchase of a vacant movie theater in Manchester, in northern England. After months of renovation, the first Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in England was dedicated on August 31. It was ready just in time for the new program of circuit assemblies starting in September.

Two years before this, in the southeastern part of the country, assembly overseers had met to consider how they could obtain a hall in London. Denis Cave, a member of the committee assigned to locate a suitable building, remembers the shock he felt when the assembled brothers unanimously agreed to look for not one but two halls—one north of the River Thames and the other south of the river—and this despite the high cost of property in the area!

An unused cinema in the town of Dorking, 20 miles [30 km] south of London, seemed a good possibility. But real estate speculators moved in and offered a high price for the building. At first disheartened, Denis received a surprise when the town’s chief executive phoned him and requested that he and another Witness attend a meeting. In addition to lifting planning restrictions so that the building could be used for worship, the authorities agreed to purchase the cinema and then offer it to the brothers on an indefinite lease renewable every three years.

That hall served well for over a decade, until the town decided to make other use of the building. To replace it, the brothers obtained a 28-acre [11 ha] site not far from London’s Gatwick Airport. It included buildings that could be incorporated into a fine Assembly Hall structure. Local controversy arose over access to the new building by means of some narrow country lanes. Understandably, nearby residents wished to protect their privacy and remain as undisturbed as possible. Would the Witnesses respect directions to follow carefully designated routes and speeds when they traveled to the Assembly Hall? A news report of the local Planning Committee meeting stated: “In normal cases, the committee felt, it would be impossible to enforce such conditions. But the Jehovah’s Witnesses were different.” The Committee chairman added: “Many other groups or organisations would like to say that their members will comply in this way. But this is the way this organisation operates.” This new Surrey Assembly Hall at Hays Bridge opened with a circuit assembly on May 17 and 18, 1986, exactly one year after the site had been acquired.

Simultaneous with the work on the Dorking Assembly Hall in 1975, the Witnesses in north London refurbished the former Ritz Cinema in New Southgate. This mid-1930’s building had closed as a cinema in the spring of 1974. For a short while, it was a synagogue. When the Witnesses acquired it, the building was in an “acute state of disrepair,” according to Roger Dixon, an architect. “The structure was basically sound but not waterproof,” he recalls. “To disguise the dilapidated condition, the interior of the auditorium had been painted black!” The task of renovating it proved daunting at first. Nevertheless, some 2,000 skilled and semiskilled volunteers completed the job in just four and a half months.

At the same time, work was under way on an Assembly Hall in the West Midlands. In 1974 the brothers had managed to purchase a former movie theater in Dudley. Renovation of this facility took longer, but by September 1976 it too was ready for use.

Building New Assembly Halls

The increase in Kingdom publishers continued, from 71,944 in 1974 to 92,616 in 1984. Many were located in the heavily industrialized urban areas in the north of England. Plans were made to build a hall in South Yorkshire.

Construction began in September 1985 on what has come to be known as the East Pennine Assembly Hall. It is a steel-frame structure seating 1,642 persons, with a 350-seat Kingdom Hall for the local congregation. The building was designed with a roof that has a 42-meter [138 foot] span, making it most attractive. The magazine The Structural Engineer dubbed this unusual design “the octagonal solution.” Rotherham Borough Council awarded the Assembly Hall their top design prize.

Noble Bower, a member of the project committee, worked on the site from the beginning and later served as the hall’s first overseer. His jovial but no-nonsense demeanor encouraged the more than 12,500 brothers and sisters who helped during the 14-month construction period. To make it possible for the work to continue through freezing fog, subzero temperatures, and snow, the brothers erected a scaffold frame around the area to support a protective plastic sheet. Into this, industrial heaters blew hot air. Nothing stopped the work on this important project. Brothers from far afield came to encourage the volunteer workers.

For Noble and his wife Louie, the most unforgettable day was when the Assembly Hall was dedicated to Jehovah, on November 15, 1986, during a visit by Theodore Jaracz, a member of the Governing Body.

With Assembly Halls in the north of England, the Midlands, and the southeast, what could be provided to accommodate the brothers in the western part of England and Wales? In October 1987 a suitable piece of land was located at Almondsbury, north of the city of Bristol. But the needed zoning permits were not obtained easily. Repeated efforts were required until permission was finally granted in February 1993.

Construction then moved ahead in earnest. What a joy it was when, on August 5, 1995, the time arrived for the dedication of this, the sixth Assembly Hall in England! John Barr of the Governing Body spoke on the theme “Filling the Earth With the Knowledge of Jehovah.” All present appreciated his kindly reminder: “Never forget that your territory forms just a small part of Jehovah’s footstool. He is just as interested in your part of the earth as in any other, so keep in mind the worldwide scope of the Kingdom work.”

The very next week, Brother Barr spoke at the dedication of a new Kingdom Hall complex at Edgware, north London. Here the brothers had built a fine structure comprising three Kingdom Halls with dividing walls that would fold away to open the whole area into an Assembly Hall that could be used by the foreign-language congregations. By this time the response in the foreign-language field had added a significant dimension to Kingdom preaching in Britain.

[Map/Pictures on page 86, 87]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

ENGLAND

Assembly Halls conveniently located throughout the country: (1) Manchester, (2) North London, (3) Dudley, (4) Surrey, (5) East Pennine, (6) Bristol, (7) Edgware

[Pictures]

East Pennine

Edgware

Surrey

Manchester

Bristol