6 Adam Street

The Fund’s home in Adam Street has itself a fascinating history. It lies on the eastern boundary of what was Durham House, the London residence of the Bishops of Durham. Built in the Middle Ages, it saw the occupancy not only of the various Bishops, but also of Simon de Montfort, Catherine of Aragon, Cardinal Wolsey, Anne Boleyn, Princess Elizabeth (afterwards Queen Elizabeth I), and Sir Walter Raleigh. After the Civil War it fell into disuse, and it was not until 1768 that the celebrated Adam brothers took a lease on the site and began to develop it as the Adelphi (from the Greek for brothers, “adelphoi”).

Building began in 1772, and the first occupant of 6 Adam Street was William Adam, the youngest of the four brothers, who acted as the business brains of the architectural partnership. His drawing room is still extant on the first floor, with its splendid ornamental ceiling of plaster medallions on classical themes.

After William’s death in 1822 the house passed into multi-occupation by various reforming organisations, including the Church of England and Ireland Temperance Society. Since then it has been the offices and workshops of a wood carver, a soap company, a typewriting pool, the Inland Revenue, and a strange group called the Legion of Frontiersmen. This motley collection was joined in 1906 by the Stage Pictorial Publishing Company, the forerunner of The Stage newspaper. The ABF in those days occupied 8 Adam Street. In fact, Council meetings had been held there since 1883 when it was the home of the Alhambra Theatre Employees’ Relief Fund, and somewhere along the line the ABF had acquired the freehold.

In 1936 negotiations were put in place by the owners of 6 Adam Street to exchange the building for number 8. The relocation took place in December of that year and the ABF has occupied 6 Adam Street ever since. A programme of extensive refurbishment was undertaken in 1987 and the dignity of this Grade 2 listed building restored.