Methodist Central Hall

Central Hall.jpg

Methodist Central Hall opposite the Houses of Parliament in Westminster is Central London’s largest conference venue. Built between 1905-1911, Central Hall consists of numerous meeting rooms and spaces including its impressive Great Hall which can seat 2300 attends. By virtue of its prominent location, and distinctive characteristics as a Methodist meeting hall, the site has been a key internationalist space in the city, ranging from the Second Pan-African Congress in 1921 to the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in 1946. It has regularly been used for political rallies and addresses by prominent speakers, including Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Winston Churchill.

Further information:

Histories may be found at the websites of both the present-day Methodist Central Hall (https://methodist-central-hall.org.uk/services/history/) and the church’s conference company ‘Central Hall Westminster’ (https://www.c-h-w.com/about/history/).

For news footage of the inaugural meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, held at Methodist Central Hall in 1946, see https://youtu.be/hipvo7BgNsk and https://www.britishpathe.com/video/un-meeting-in-london