The Merchant Taylors' Hall in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, is a medieval

guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

near the

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

in the Aldwark area of the city.

History

The hall was built by the Fraternity of St John the Baptist (an organisation connected to the Taylors' Guild) in c.1415. It received a new cladding in the seventeenth century. The main hall is , with ceilings. The adjoining Counsel House (sometimes called the Counting House) contains two

stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

by York glass painter Henry Gyles. The south window shows Queen Anne, and was made to commemorate her accession to the throne while the side window depicts the coat of arms of the London Company of Merchant Taylors. In the eighteenth century, the building was used for banquets and entertainment, including rope dancing, tumbling and a pantomime called "''The Force of Magick or The Birth of Harlequin''". The building is still used by the Guild of Merchant Taylors of York, and is available to hire. It is a short walk from this Hall to the

Merchant Adventurers' Hall The Merchant Adventurers' Hall is a medieval guildhall in the city of York, England. It is a Grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument. History The majority of the Hall was built in 1357 by a group of influential men and women w ...

, the hall (originally) of the Mercers' Guild in York.

References

External links

The Company of Merchant Taylors
Grade I listed buildings in York Grade I listed livery halls Guildhalls in the United Kingdom Timber framed buildings in Yorkshire {{NorthYorkshire-struct-stub