page_title: Wilton's Music Hall
section_title: Fire and Methodism
hierarchical_section_title: Wilton's Music Hall / History / Fire and Methodism
caption_attribution_description: Sheet music cover: "Champagne Charlie was his name. Written by H. J. Whymark, composed by Alfred Lee. Sung by Billy Morris of Morris Bros. Minstrels. Boston, Oliver Ditson &amp; Co., 1867."
context_page_description: Wilton's Music Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Shadwell, built as a music hall and now run as a multi-arts performance space in Graces Alley, off Cable Street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is one of very few surviving music halls and retains many original features.
  Wilton's has been a producing venue since 2004. It produces imaginative, distinctive work that has roots in the early music hall tradition but reinterpreted for an audience of today, which means presenting a diverse and distinct programme including opera, puppetry, classical music, cabaret, dance, and magic. Situated at the heart of the historic East End within easy walking distance from The Tower of London, the River Thames and the City, it is a focus for theatrical and East End history, as well as a living theatre, concert hall, public bar and heritage site.
  The venue recently underwent an extensive programme of restoration work. The theatre did not close at any point during the building works: instead running an interim arts programme called The Chrysalis Club. The award-winning spaces reopened in October 2015.
context_section_description: Wilton's passed into several ownerships during the 1870s before being destroyed by fire in 1877. An eight-year rebuild commenced that year before the building was bought by the East End Mission of the Methodist Church. Towards the end of the 19th century the East End had become notorious for extreme poverty and terrible living conditions. Religious organisations tried to help, such as the East London Methodist Mission, renamed The Mahogany Bar Mission and for some time considered 'Methodism's finest hall'. 
  During the Great Dock Strike of 1889, a soup kitchen was set up at The Mahogany Bar, feeding a thousand meals a day to the starving dockers' families. The Mission remained open for nearly 70 years, through some of the most testing periods in East End history including the 1936 Mosley March and the London Blitz in World War II. Throughout that time the Methodists campaigned against social abuses, welcomed people of all creeds and ethnicity, and gave invaluable support to the local community, particularly the needy children of the area.
caption: "Champagne Charlie", the song made famous by George Leybourne
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