The Worcester Guildhall is a municipal building in the High Street,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, England. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The first guildhall on the site was a

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

structure constructed as a meeting place for local merchants in about 1227. In 1717 civic leaders decided to replace the building with a grander structure. The current building, designed by Thomas White in the Queen Anne style, was completed in 1723. The design involved a central bay and two wings with the central bay being flanked by two full-height

Composite order The Composite order is a mixed order, combining the volutes of the Ionic order capital with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order.Henig, Martin (ed.), ''A Handbook of Roman Art'', p. 50, Phaidon, 1983, In many versions the composite o ...

columns with a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

above displaying flute-playing

cherub A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...

s and the Royal Arms. At roof level, above the

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, carved figures of

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

, Plenty,

Chastisement Chastisement is the infliction of corporal punishment as defined by law. Minors English common law allowed parents and others who have "lawful control or charge" of a child to use "moderate and reasonable" chastisement or correction. In the 1860 ...

and

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

were erected together with four urns. At ground floor level in the middle of the central bay was the main entrance which was flanked by Composite order columns with a

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

and

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

above. On either side of the entrance, statues of King Charles I and King Charles II were erected in

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

s; at first floor level, above the main entrance a statue of Queen Anne was erected, also in a niche. Inside, a court room and a lower hall were established on the ground floor, and a council chamber and a large imposing assembly room were established on the first floor.

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

described the assembly room as "a handsome gallery" when he visited it in August 1788. The building was used for cultural events: the Three Choirs Festival, which involved concerts given by the choirs of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester, was regularly held there until the mid-18th century. In the 18th century, Worcester also elected its members of Parliament at the Guildhall, a minimum requirement being that they should own freehold property worth 40 shillings a year; the decision was made by the loudest shouting rather than raising of hands. The court room was used a facility for dispensing justice and accommodated the crown court and

nisi prius ''Nisi prius'' () (Latin: "unless before") is a historical term in English law. In the 19th century, it came to be used to denote generally all legal actions tried before judges of the King's Bench Division and in the early twentieth century for ac ...

court. Citizens were given the privilege of being imprisoned underneath the Guildhall rather than in the town jail, except for the most serious offences.

Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

was presented with the Freedom of the City of Worcester at the Guildhall on 20 May 1950. The Guildhall was the headquarters of the

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

of Worcester for much of the 20th century and, following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, became the meeting place of enlarged

Worcester City Council Worcester City Council is the local authority for Worcester, a non-metropolitan district with city status in Worcestershire, England. The council consists of 35 councillors, elected from 15 wards. History The city of Worcester was an ancient bo ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, accompanied by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

, attended a reception at the Guildhall in July 2012, before undertaking a walkabout outside the building. Works of art in the Guildhall include portraits by

Christopher William Hunneman Christopher William Hunnemann or Christopher Wilhelm Hanneman (May 1755 – 21 November 1793) was a British portrait painter. Life Christopher Wilhelm Hanneman was born in May 1755 presumably near Hanover where his father was a court physi ...

of King George III and of his wife,

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

and a portrait by

James Sant James Sant (1820–1916) was a British painter specialising in portraits and known particularly for images of women and children and artistic exploration of the symbolism of childhood. He was a member of the Royal Academy. George Sant and Sara ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

Gallery

File:Worcester Guildhall Assembly Room.jpg, The Assembly Room File:Worcester Guildhall Lower Hall.jpg, The Lower Hall File:Worcester Guildhall Council Chambers.jpg, The Council Chambers File:Worcester Guildhall Court Room.jpg, The Court Room File:Worcester Guildhall Mayors Parlour Room.jpg, The Mayors Parlour Room

References

{{reflist Grade I listed buildings in Worcestershire City and town halls in Worcestershire Government buildings completed in 1723