St. George's Hall

Wandsworth St. George’s Hall Rink (not to be confused with the later Wandsworth Central Hall Rink) played an important part in roller speed skating at the very outset of the sport.

Back in the mid 1880’s a building was built on Wandsworth High Street that was named St. George’s Hall. The hall was initially managed by Fred Harcourt and used to hold plays and the occasional public meeting.

In late1892 the hall was acquired by James Wilson and quickly turned into a roller rink, officially opening on 8th December.

Initially the rink held professional races with the likes of Arthur Buckhurst and Bill Curtis amongst the regular attendees. Buckhurst was appointed Manager of the rink by James Wilson who also happened to be his brother-in-law.

In 1893 roller speed skating officially came under the auspices of the National Skating Association (NSA) and on 29th December the first ever race, a team event, was held at a rink in West Brompton. This event was billed as a championship event, albeit a regional championship, whereby the winning team, Ravensbourne, were awarded the Benetfink Challenge Trophy.

The day after that race the NSA met at the Knightsbridge Rink and set up a Roller Committee. They also set what they believed to be plausible time standards/tests for the achievement of a gold, silver or bronze award.

The first of these tests was run at the Wandsworth St. George’s Hall Rink on Tuesday 16th January 1894. Amongst the skaters was the teenager Charles Wilson who was the son of the rink proprietor, James Wilson and nephew to Arthur Buckhurst. Wilson set the fastest time standard of the evening.

Further tests were held at the West Brompton Rink throughout January. The NSA then announced that another ‘speed test’ would be held at the Wandsworth St. George’s Hall Rink on 6th February, but this time the winner would be declared a British Champion.

There were just four entrants that would skate one mile as a speed test, and one of them was Charles Wilson. Wilson posted a time of 3 minutes 55 4/5 seconds which was the fastest of the four skaters. It was only fast enough to obtain a bronze speed test award but having set the fastest recorded time he was awarded the Benetfink Challenge Trophy and recognised as the first ever individual amateur British Champion.

In 1895 the rink facilities were removed and St. George’s Hall was repurposed as a Day Science School. This became the Wandsworth Technical Institute in 1900.

In 1926 St. George’s Hall was demolished and a new building was erected to house the expanding institute. That building still stands and is now Grade II listed and is now known as the South Thames College.

There is no longer any physical trace of St. George’s Hall. Sadly, there are also no detailed photos of it and the important part it played in being the venue for establishing Great Britain’s very first amateur national champion, Charles James Wilson.