[2] After civic leaders found this arrangement was inadequate, they decided to procure a purpose-built vestry hall: the site selected on Walworth Road had previously been open land owned by the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers.

[2] Also of interest is that at the end of this block of buildings, on Larcom Street, Charles Babbage, the Victorian mechanical computer pioneer, was born in 1791 although the original house has been demolished.

[5] After the Newington Public Library had been built to the south east of the town hall in 1892, an infill extension was added between the two buildings in 1893.

[11] In March 2018, the council announced that the building would be restored and appointed Feix & Merlin as architects[12] and General Projects as the developer for works.

[14] Proposals for the restoration works, which included educational activities, creative workshops and studio spaces,[15] were submitted for planning consent in June 2020.