The Great Hall
Accessed by an impressive stone staircase, the double-height Great Hall dining hall features high oak panelling, large windows and high vaulted ceilings decorated with fine coloured plaster shields and heraldic devices created by Laurence Turner, a renowned Arts and Crafts carver and maker of decorative plasterwork.
The Great Hall was one of the first spaces to be built (between 1935-37) thanks to a generous donation from Governor David Martyn Evans-Bevan in memory of his father Evan Evans-Bevan, a mine-owner and High Sheriff of Breconshire. The Evans-Bevan and Goodenough family crests are just two of the many eye-catching gilded plaster-work designs modelled by Laurence Turner to decorate the ceiling. The others feature striking imagery celebrating the four nations of the United Kingdom and countries around the world.
“Plaster-work worthy of the name must have the quality of softness; it must make you feel it has been modelled” (Laurence Turner)
The impressive clock over the entrance doorway, installed in 1937, is actually a double clock. Built by Henry Baker (Sir Herbert Baker’s son) and Robert Stewart and installed in 1937, it features a normal 12-hour clock, showing the time in Britain in the inner part. The outer clock is a 24-hour clock giving the time in a number of other countries, which are represented by their symbols. The lion’s head represents Greenwich Time, then – moving clockwise – the winged springbok and protea for South Africa, the sun disc for India, and an anchor for Singapore. Australia, New Zealand and Canada have the same symbols as in the gilded crests on the Great Hall ceiling.
The Arts and Crafts inspired dining tables and chairs for the Hall were made specially by craftsman Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson, and feature his trademark mouse on the table legs. Visitors to the building enjoy trying to find the carved mice, scattered on the tables and chairs in the Great Hall and in the Churchill Room.
Two other chairs are worthy of note – the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth chairs. The first was made to commemorate Queen Mary’s visit to London House to open the Great Hall in 1937 and the second was made in honour of a visit to the College by HM Queen Elizabeth II, scheduled for 26 March 2020 , which had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Visitors can now enjoy trying out one or both chairs fit for a Queen.
At night the Great Hall is lit by chandeliers and by wall sconces creating a warm and welcoming glow. The sconces are a recent addition, installed by Warner Brothers set designers in order to film a scene for the 2023 film The Flash.