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It was on 13th May 1882 that the old 'London Orphan Asylum' (founded by Dr Andrew Reed) was renamed the 'Clapton Congress Hall' and was dedicated to the worship of God and the service of man by General William Booth. The original cost of the building had been £60 000 and William Booth declared it to be the biggest bargain in London when the whole was purchased by the Army for £15 000!
 Rev (Dr) Andrew Reed - Founder of the London Orphan Asylum
A march along Linscott Road showing the Training Garrison in the background c.1904
The buildings which once housed 600 orphans became the 'The National Barracks' or 'Training Garrison' for the next 48 years from where Salvation Army officers, after their training, would be commissioned to preach and serve in all parts of the world. The 1928, Centenary session was the last to train at Clapton before the move to the William Booth Memorial Training College at Denmark Hill.
Cadets leaving the Training Garrison c.1904
One of the earliest of many great occasions for which Clapton Congress Hall became famous was the marriage of William Bramwell Booth (then Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army) to Florence Eleanor Soper. The ceremony was performed by William Booth, who introduced for the first time the Army's newly constituted Articles of Marriage.
During the whole of its 87 years Clapton Congress Hall, as the Army's largest auditorium in the UK, seating around 3000, was the centre for many historic events. For the lying in state of the Founder - William Booth, it is recorded that over 150 000 people of all strata of society visited the hall to pay their last respects and tributes.
In 1978 most of the Clapton Congress Hall was demolished leaving only the imposing Bath stone portico and colonnades - creating a vista for the nearby John Howard Secondary School.
the surviving remains of the once magnificent Congress Hall
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 Clapton Congress Hall - Still has something to say
In the spring of 1999, Salvationists with memories the old Clapton Congress Hall were interested to learn that the remains of the building - a portico and colonnade - were now bearing a huge neon sign declaring 'EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT'.
The sign, fixed to the entablature of the building which housed the Army's first training garrison, is a piece of artwork commissioned from artist Martin Creed (later winner of the 2001 Turner Prize for modern art) as part of the portico project. The 'integrated education project' was the brainchild of Clapton School and Groundwork Hackney and as part of the project it was decided to open the landmark to the public. The green space in which it stands is normally inaccessible to passers by and can be viewed only from a distance.
The portico - displaying the words 'Everything is going to be alright'
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Martin Creed - Winner of the 2001Turner Prize
Martin Creed and the Portico Project
Further history of the building
The neoclassical portico and colonnade is now all that remains of what was originally built as the London Orphan Asylum in 1826. The asylum was founded by the Nonconformist minister the Rev Andrew Reed, whose aim was to provide accommodation and assistance to children of respectable, professional families where an income was no longer assured due to the death of the father.
Clapton and Hackney were then, fashionable weekend retreats for wealthy city dwellers but London was growing rapidly at that time with industry and housing beginning to encroach onto the building's eight acres of ground.
An outbreak of typhoid In 1866 prompted the orphanage to seek new accommodation and it was eventually moved to Watford in 1870. During its 44 years the orphanage took more than 4000 children into care, housing up to 450 boys and girls at any one time. The building stood empty from 1871 - 1882 , when it was purchased for £15 000 by the fledgling Salvation Army as an officer's training home.
The central quadrangle was roofed over at a further cost of £8000 to create a huge amphitheatre - Clapton Congress Hall - which could seat around 3000 people. It was a clear indication of the meteoric growth of the Movement.
For nearly 50 years, until 1929 when the training centre moved south of the River Thames to Denmark Hill, Clapton Congress Hall was in many ways, the focus of the Army in London.
The building survived the blitz, but much of Linscott Road - in which it is situated - was bombed, and after the war the Congress Hall seemed to shrink in importance as fewer and fewer Salvation Army activities took place there. By 1970, the activities had ceased and the building was bought by the local authority which intended to establish a large comprehensive school on the site.
However, the building did not meet the educational requirements of the time and, despite its listed status, the majority of it was demolished in 1975 to make room for a new gym and hard surface playground area for the existing Clapton School. Since then the building has been fenced of and allowed to deteriorate.
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