File:Stanley Halls South Norwood Open House 2017-47 (36617382653).jpg

"Stanley Halls (in South Norwood) were opened on 2 February 1903 by Charles Ritchie, 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee at a cost of £13,000 (as Stanley Public Hall) to provide the local community with a public space for plays, concerts and lectures. It was the first building in Croydon to have electricity. In 1904 a clock tower and a hall were added. In 1993, a blue plaque was installed on a wall of Stanley Halls by English Heritage. The plaque reads W.F.R. STANLEY (1829–1909) Inventor, Manufacturer and Philanthropist, founded and designed these halls and technical school. It is a Grade II listed building.

"William Ford Robinson Stanley (2 February 1829 – 14 August 1909) was a British inventor with 78 patents filed in both the United Kingdom and the United States of America. He was an engineer who designed and made precision drawing and mathematical instruments, as well as surveying instruments and telescopes, manufactured by his company 'William Ford Stanley and Co. Ltd.'

"Stanley was a skilled architect who designed and founded the UK's first Trades school, Stanley Technical Trades School (now Harris Academy South Norwood), as well as designing the Stanley Halls in South Norwood.

"Stanley was a member of several professional bodies and societies (including the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Meteorological Society, the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Astronomical Association). Besides these activities, he was a painter, musician and photographer, as well as an author of a variety of publications, including plays, books for children, and political treatises."