King's Hall, Herne Bay
| East Cliff Pavilion (1904); Pavilion or Bandstand (1904–1913); King Edward VII Memorial Hall (1913–1920) |
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The King's Hall, 2011
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| Address | Beacon Hill, Herne Bay, Kent, England CT6 5BA |
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| Coordinates | 51°22′22″N 1°08′12″E / 51.3728°N 1.1367°ECoordinates: 51°22′22″N 1°08′12″E / 51.3728°N 1.1367°E |
| Owner | Canterbury City Council |
| Operator | Canterbury City Council |
| Type | Provincial |
| Capacity | 250–500 |
| Current use | Concert, dance and entertainment venue |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 4 April 1904 (cost £4,000) |
| Rebuilt | 10 July 1913 (cost £6,000) |
| Architect | F.W.J. Palmer, CE |
| Website | |
| TheKingsHall.com | |
The King's Hall is a theatre, concert hall and dance hall at Herne Bay, Kent, England. It was built as The Pavilion in 1903–1904, developed as the King Edward VII Memorial Hall in 1913 in memory of the late king, and was being called The King's Hall by 1912 while still at planning stage. Both building phases were designed by the local Council surveyor F.W.J. Palmer, CE. The year 2013 was the centenary of the completion of the second and final phase of this building and its grand opening by Princess Beatrice on 10 July 1913.
The King's Hall is built into the Downs on East Cliff at the east end of Herne Bay, Kent. Before 1903, the Downs on East Cliff was a grassy slope down to the sea which during the Napoleonic Wars held a gun position and military camp. The Downs was later held by Herne Bay Urban District Council as a place of recreation. The first phase, the Pavilion of 1904, was intended as an improvement of a previous bandstand on the same site. This phase was called the East Cliff Pavilion at its opening, to differentiate it from the Grand Pier Pavilion (1910–1970). It later became the Pavilion or Bandstand. The second phase or King Edward VII Memorial Hall of 1913 was being called The King's Hall in the local newspapers even before the ground was broken in 1912.
The original building was a bandstand funded in 1903–1904 by Thomas Dence (1840–1918), a local developer who had been involved in the Frome Park Estate in Stroud Green and roads in the parish of St Mary, Islington, and owned property in Herne Bay. Dence had moved to Herne Bay for his health, bought the Downs, laid out roads at the top and built himself a house on Beacon Hill close by. He conveyed the remaining sloping land back to the Council, and in 1901 and 1903 suggested plans for a bandstand. He had in mind:
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