Victoria Hall, Settle: The story behind the oldest-surviving music hall in the country

The people he chose for the design of the venue were architects noted for their ecclesiastical buildings. Smith & Paley was based just over the border, in Lancaster, and among their other designs were St Mary’s, in Conistone, Bridlington Priory, St John and All Saints in Easingwold, St Peter’s in Rylstone and – significantly – some new buildings at Giggleswick School, constructed in 1849- 51.

Smith and Paley were busy chaps. Their schools, churches, convents (and the odd stately home) were popping up all over the counties of the white and red roses. But the design of what in later years became the Victoria Hall is what could be called – even with the most generous architectural flattery – basic.

It's oblong. A frontage with a foyer, the hall itself with a small balcony, a stage (under which there is the original band room for instrumentalists), rudimentary backstage facilities and a small bar and offices to one side. Today, what marks it out as one of the town’s best structures is the wide glass canopy to the front – and even then, you may well miss it, were you in a hurry.

What makes the Victoria Hall extra-special is that it has – against all the odds – survived. And as it prepares to celebrate its 170th birthday in October, it is thriving. Other, far more grand buildings built for the entertainment of the masses have been reduced to rubble. The opera houses in York, the Alhambra in Barnsley, the Empire in Leeds are just a few. But the Victoria Hall battles bravely and indomitably ever on. It is now (despite what rivals might tell you) Britain’s oldest-surviving music hall. Older than Wilton’s in London, older than the City Varieties in Leeds.

The Victoria didn’t start as a place where you’d expect to discover high-kicking, lightly-clad chorus girls, a chairman with a gavel, and choruses of Down at the Old Bull and Bush. It was a “music hall” in the sense that it was a building in which music of a slightly more elevated kind could be played, sung, and listened to. But today, with its board of trustees, chief executive Ann Harding and finance, administrative and archive officer Josie Guthrie, the venue has adapted, engaged and altered. Its repertoire includes beer festivals, a sell-out concert by the Three Degrees and others by Tony Christie and Maddy Prior, a punk festival, talks by celebrities like Brian May, screenings of productions from Covent Garden and the Royal National Theatre, local operatic societies and drama groups, book fairs, special events and drop-in teas for local groups. Ann reckons that the hall must host around 200 events throughout anyone year, and that there is an annual footfall of over 15,000 people. Since Settle’s population is just over 4,000, that’s more than impressive. They come from a fair distance, and audiences staying overnight at B&Bs and hotels contribute significantly to the local economy.

Josie and Ann are the only two salaried members of staff. Josie says with a laugh: “Sometimes someone will ring up and say, ‘May I speak to someone in the box office?’ and I say, ‘That’s me’, and then they’ll say, ‘And then could you put me over to the admin department?’ and I reply, ‘that’ll be easy, that’s me as well!’. But what we have, and what we rely on, is an amazing group of volunteers, who can turn their collective hands to just about anything and everything. A great example is our outdoor cafe and bar space, where you can sit and pass the time of day, or browse in our bric-a-brac shop, or listen to live music.”

North Yorkshire Council owns the building, and leases it to the trustees for a peppercorn “upkeep” rent. The local authority takes no part in its operation, nor does it give it a grant. One of our most precious places in Yorkshire is run on goodwill, donations, bar takings and box office receipts. And the 230 or so seats (400 standing) must be filled as often as possible, so that the bills can be paid. There’s a plan to set up a “500 Club”, where members can pay a monthly fee, with one lucky person winning a cash prize, and the rest of the money going into hall funds.

One of the glories of the Victoria, which hits the eye as soon as audiences enter the auditorium, is the stage backdrop, which is believed to be one of the oldest pieces of stage scenery in the world. “It’s simply stunning, made even more fascinating by two facts – the first is that it has even survived, and the second that it was painted by an amateur artist. It dates from about 1882,” says Harrogate-based theatre historian Dr David Wilmore.

The scene is of the old marketplace in Settle, and it is by local man Edmund Handby who was a painter and decorator by trade. Handby was also a member of the Settle choral and operatic societies for decades, well into the 1900s, and his legacy is the cloth, and also (it is thought) the painted representation of the proscenium arch around it. “It’s still stunning, after all these years,” says Josie. “But I think that he was a little over-enthusiastic about the representation of the hills which surround the town, they look a bit more like somewhere in the Alps!”

The hall’s archive is a treasure trove of entertainment history. There are pamphlets, advertising sheets and posters of every description. “General Tom Thumb appeared on stage here,” says Ann, pointing at a sepia photograph, “and there’s his wife, and his baby. Except that that’s not his wife, it was really his sister, and it’s not their baby – everywhere they went, they’d go to a local orphanage, and ‘rent’ a child for a day or so, and pass it off as their own”.

There are also ads for recruiting drives held in the hall during the First World War – with one promoting a concert to celebrate one of the town’s sons who had distinguished himself.

On this stage have appeared the great and the good – the glorious voice of Kathleen Ferrier was heard here – as well as the notorious. James Berry, the Victorian hangman, who packed out the hall with a lecture (with lantern slides) on the men and women which he had sent to another life. Another lecturer, in 1917, talked to standing room only on My Thousand Miles Along the Great Slave Route in Africa. “There’s no accounting for tastes,” says Ann.

“Every day throws up at least one challenge, and the struggle never gets any easier,” she adds. “But we’re determined that the Victoria Hall, bless it, will still be here and thriving in another 170 years. Whatever it takes!”

www.settlevictoriahall.org.uk