The History of Lattimore Hall

In 1861 there was religious revival in St Albans.  Visiting evangelists held meetings in a large tent during the summer and in the Town Hall during the winter.  Hundreds of people attended the meetings, mainly local farm labourers and their families.  They were supported by Christians from many different churches. 

In December 1861 the meetings were transferred to an ‘Iron Room’ built especially for the Revival Meetings.  Preachers came from different backgrounds – both lay-preachers and clergymen, non-conformists and Anglicans.  The meetings continued in the Iron Room until March 1865.

The Iron Room was dismantled, but hundreds were still flocking to the meetings, now held in a tent again.  Then in December 1865 a wealthy and philanthropic widow, Mrs Isabella Worley, purchased a large ‘Wooden Hall’ in Lattimore Road and the land on which it stood, in order to house the meetings. 

The Wooden Room congregation became a church, with a particular outreach to the working classes of the town.  The Wooden Room was sold and the congregation built Lattimore Hall . The wooden hall became an official place for storage of official records, latterly sold and rebuilt as an auction house, now redevolped as flats However, on the wall outside there is a plaque which mentions the original building. 

The information on this page was taken from Geoffrey Stonier's paper 'The St Albans Revival' (1982)