Totnes Guildhall is a 16th-century Tudor historic

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 ...

, magistrate's court, and

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, in the town of

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

, south

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, in southwest

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 ...

. 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

After Totnes was granted a charter by King John enabling the town to makes its own bylaws in 1206, the merchants of the town secured permission to establish a

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

and constructed their original guildhall in the High Street. The old guildhall became a place for measuring and stamping cloth in the late 16th century and was then rebuilt as a private residence in 1719. The current building was originally part of

Totnes Priory Totnes Priory was a priory at Totnes in south Devon, England. It was founded by Juhel de Totnes, feudal baron of Totnes. Foundation charter The foundation charter dated circa 1087 is held at the Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter under reference 3 ...

, which had been established by

Juhel de Totnes Juhel de Totnes (died 1123/30) (''alias'' Juhel fitz Alfred, Juhel de Mayenne (commune), Mayenne, Judel, Judhel, Judael, Judhael, Joel, Judhel de Totenais), List of Latinised names, Latinised to Judhellus filius Aluredi, "Juhel son of Alured") was ...

feudal baron A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely been ...

of Totnes. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

in the 1540s, his successor,

King Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour ...

, granted Totnes a charter, in 1553, allowing one of the former priory buildings, which had been used as the monks'

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the La ...

, to be converted into a guildhall. Part of the first floor of the building was converted for use as a magistrates' court in 1624. Soldiers were billeted in the building during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

: the council chamber at the west end of the first floor hosted a meeting between

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

and

Thomas Fairfax Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

at the oak tables there in 1646. The lower hall was used as a public meeting room as evidenced by the names of over 600 town mayors, who have served since 1359, listed on its walls. After

prison cell A prison cell (also known as a jail cell) is a small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is held. Cells greatly vary by their furnishings, hygienic services, and cleanliness, both across countries and based on the level of punishm ...

s had been built in the basement, the building was also used as the town

gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...

until 1887.Totnes Guildhall

Whatsonwhen
. The building was extended to the east by the addition of a

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

in front of the original building in 1897: the extension was designed with

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

columns which had been recovered from the Exchange which had been demolished in 1878.

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 ...

, visited the guildhall in July 1962. The council chamber continued to be used as the meeting place of the borough of Totnes but ceased to be the local seat of government after the formation of South Hams District Council under 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 ...

; the magistrates' court continued to be used for court hearings until 1974.

Current use

The building continues to be used by Totnes Town Council for meetings and other ceremonial events. It is also open to the public during weekdays.Totnes Guildhall
,

Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. Based in the city of Exeter, the council covers the non-metropolitan county area of Devon. Members of the council (councillors) are elected every four years to ...

, UK.

References

{{reflist Totnes Prisons in Devon Grade I listed buildings in Devon Historic house museums in Devon Houses in Devon Local museums in Devon City and town halls in Devon Magistrates' courts in England and Wales 1553 establishments in England Grade I listed government buildings Court buildings in England Defunct prisons in England Government buildings completed in 1553

History

Current use

See also

References