Building works continue at Cecil Sharp House this September

Friday 13th of September 2013

Cecil Sharp House building project update from Rosie Baker, Operations Director at the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS).

Its nearly the end of the September and what a month it has been! If you have visited us recently you will have noticed that the foyer works have been unavoidably delayed and so we still have a floating reception desk and the entrance is usually through one of the back doors, so please follow the signs to find your way in! Thankfully this will only last another week and we will be working from a lovely new desk from Thursday 3 October. This ties in nicely with our first concert of the season in Kennedy Hall, Rhiannon Giddens and Leyla McCalla from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who will be performing that same night so if you are coming along you will be the first to see the transformation.


The delay to the reception works has unfortunately had a knock on effect on the progress of the cafe refurbishment too, so until the dust has settled, literally, on the reception works, our new caterers Pink Food, won't be able to move into the space and work their magic from behind the cafe counter. Fear not, as you still will be able to purchase bottled beer, bagels, other snacks and of course their legendary brownies from temporary service stations in the building from next Tuesday 1 October. By mid October the cafe refurbishment will also be complete and you can then expect a full service of cask ale and cider, hot drinks and a whole new menu of delicious hot and cold dishes, cakes and snacks. Merrilees and Bernadette, the brains behind Pink Food can't wait to get started and to meet you all and despite the hold up are going to be doing everything they can to bring lovely food and drink to you when you visit Cecil Sharp House!  

On the toilet front, we will have all our lovely new accessible toilets operational by 11 October, so in the meantime if you are unable to access the basement then there is an accessible portaloo you can use at the front of the building.

Until 11 October public access to the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library will be by appointment only. If you would like more information, or to make an appointment, contact [email protected] or +44 (0)20 7485 2206 ext.233. The sound and audio visual collections in the library are unavailable until October 2013. The library will not open on Saturdays during September.

We sincerely apologise to anyone who has had problems getting through to us either on the phone or physically during this extended period of disruption while we have been without a reception desk in the main lobby. From next week we hope you will be able to see that the wait has been worth it!

Enjoy the September sunshine and we hope to see you very soon at Cecil Sharp House, bye for now!

The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) has been awarded a grant of £378,842 from Arts Council England, as part of their small capital grants programme, to improve access at Cecil Sharp House. This project is also supported by the City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charity, The Headley Trust, and the Friends of Cecil Sharp House.