A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Saint James's Hall Concert Rooms
SAINT JAMES'S HALL CONCERT ROOMS were erected, at the cost of a company with limited liability, from designs by Owen Jones. Messrs. Lucas were the builders.
The project was taken up by two of the music-publishing firms, Messrs. Beale & Chappell of Regent Street, and Chappell & Co. of New Bond Street; and the company was formed mainly by them, and among their friends. Messrs. T. F. Beale and W. Chappell became the tenants of the Crown for the land, holding it in trust for the Company. The capital was fixed at £40,000, because the original estimate for the new building was £23,000, and the remainder was supposed to be an ample sum for compensations, working expenses, etc. It was then unknown that between Regent Street and Piccadilly was the ancient boundary of Thorney Island with its quicksand, but this was encountered in the course of the building, and had to be saturated with concrete at great cost, in order to make a sure foundation. Other demands raised the cost of the building to beyond £70,000. The Great Hall was opened to the public on March 25, 1858, with a concert for the benefit of Middlesex Hospital, given in presence of the Prince Consort.
The principal entrance to the Great Hall is from Regent Street, and that to the Minor Hall from Piccadilly the former street being higher than the latter. The dimensions of the Great Hall are 139 feet in length, 60 in height, and 60 in breadth. It will seat on the Ground Floor 1100; in the Balcony 517; in the Gallery 210; in the Orchestra 300; total 2127. The above is as the numbered benches and seats are usually arranged, but, by placing the seats closer together, many more persons can be seated. Under the further part of the Great Hall is the Minor Hall, 60 feet by 57, having also a Gallery, an Orchestra, and a small room. Under the Regent Street end of the Great Hall is one of the dining rooms, 60 feet by 60, and on the Regent Street level is another dining room 40 feet by 40, with a large banquetting-room on the floor above, etc.
In 1860 alterations and additions were made to the Restaurant attached to the Concert Rooms, at a further outlay of £5000. The Company was eventually enabled to pay these charges, through the uncovenanted liberality of some of the directors, in accepting personal responsibility to mortgagees and bankers, while they diminished the debt annually through the receipts of the Hall. Many concerts were given for the express purpose of engaging the Hall on off-nights, especially the Monday Popular Concerts, which have now become an institution, but were originally started by Chappell & Co. to bring together a new public to fill the Hall on Monday nights. In 1874 three more houses in Piccadilly were purchased to add to the Restaurant. The rebuilding of these entailed a further expenditure of £45,000, so that the total cost has exceeded £120,000. Mr. George Leslie has been Secretary to the Company from its first institution, and so continues.