Guildhall is a municipal building in the
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is off
Gresham and
Basinghall streets, in the wards of
Bassishaw and
Cheap. The current building dates from the 15th century; however documentary evidence suggests that a
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 Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commo ...
had existed at the site since at least the early 12th century. The building has been used as a
town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its
Corporation
A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...
. It should not be confused with London's
City Hall, the administrative centre for
Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
in
Canning Town. The term "Guildhall" refers both to the whole building and to its main room, which is a medieval
great hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...
. It is a
Grade I-listed building.
History
Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Medieval
During the
Roman period, the Guildhall was the site of the
London Roman Amphitheatre, rediscovered as recently as 1988. It was the largest in
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.
Julius Caes ...
, partial remains of which are on public display in the basement of the
Guildhall Art Gallery
The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guil ...
, and the outline of whose arena is marked with a black circle on the paving of the courtyard in front of the hall. The siting of the Anglo-Saxon Guildhall here was probably due to the amphitheatre's remains. Excavations by
Museum of London Archaeology at the entrance to Guildhall Yard exposed remains of the great 13th-century gatehouse built directly over the southern entrance to the Roman amphitheatre, which raises the possibility that enough of the Roman structure survived to influence the siting not only of the gatehouse and Guildhall itself but also of the church of
St Lawrence Jewry whose strange alignment may shadow the elliptical form of the amphitheatre beneath.
The first documentary reference to a London Guildhall is dated 1127 or 1128; archaeologists have also discovered foundations dating to around that time.
Legend describes the Guildhall site as being the location of the palace of
Brutus of Troy, who according to
Geoffrey of Monmouth's (1136) is said to have founded a city on the banks of the River Thames, known as
Troia Nova, or New Troy.
The great hall is believed to be on a site of an earlier guildhall (one possible derivation for the word "guildhall" is the Anglo-Saxon "gild", meaning payment, with a "gild-hall" being where citizens would pay their taxes). Possible evidence for this derivation may be in a reference to John Parker, the sergeant of "Camera Guyhalde", London, in 1396.
Current building
Construction began on the current building in 1411 and was completed in 1440 under the supervision of John Croxton.

The Great Hall did not completely escape damage in the
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...
in 1666; it was partially restored (with a flat roof) in 1670. The present grand entrance (the east wing of the south front), in "
Hindoostani Gothic", was added in 1788 by
George Dance.
[ A more extensive restoration than that in 1670 was completed in 1866 by the City of London architect Sir Horace Jones, who added a new timber roof in close keeping with the original hammerbeam ceiling. This replacement was destroyed during the Second Great Fire of London on the night of 29/30 December 1940, the result of a ]Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
fire-raid. It was replaced in 1954 during works designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, though the original hammerbeam design was not retained.[ The large, seated sculpture of ]Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
by Oscar Nemon
Oscar Nemon (born Oscar Neumann; 13 March 1906 – 13 April 1985) was a Croatian sculptor who was born in Osijek, Croatia, but eventually settled in England. He is best known for his series of more than a dozen public statues of Winston Churchill ...
, which was cast by H. H. Martyn & Co., was unveiled by Churchill in 1955.
Trials at the Guildhall have included those of Anne Askew (the Protestant martyr), Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a theologian, leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a Oxford Martyrs, martyr ...
(Archbishop of Canterbury) and Lady Jane Grey ("the Nine Days' Queen") as well as Henry Garnet (executed for his complicity in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605).
The 1783 hearing of the infamous ''Zong'' case, the outcome of which focused public outrage about the transatlantic slave trade, also took place at Guildhall. On 16 November 1848, the pianist Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...
made his last public appearance on a concert platform there. The marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
route of the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
passed through Guildhall Yard.
Present use
Guildhall continues to serve as the headquarters for the City of London Corporation, with most of its offices housed in modern extensions to the north and west of the original building. The North Wing was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and was built between 1955 and 1958, facing a new public square between Aldermanbury and Basinghall Street.[
The West Wing was designed by Richard Gilbert Scott and built between 1970 and 1975 to a modernist style. The West Wing is separately listed as a Grade II ]listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. The older part of Guildhall and the adjacent historic interiors are still used for official functions, and it is open to the public during the annual London Open House weekend. Guildhall Art Gallery was added to the complex in the 1990s. Guildhall Library, a public reference library with specialist collections on London, which include material from the 11th century onwards, is also housed in the complex.
Gog and Magog
Two giants, Gog and Magog, are associated with Guildhall. Legend has it that the two giants were defeated by Brutus and chained to the gates of his palace on the site of Guildhall. Early carvings of Gog and Magog were destroyed in Guildhall during the Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...
. They were replaced in 1708 by a large pair of wooden statues carved by Captain Richard Saunders. These giants, on whom the current versions are based, lasted for more than two hundred years before they were destroyed in the Blitz. They, in turn, were replaced by a new pair carved by David Evans in 1953 and given to the City of London by Alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
Sir George Wilkinson, who had been Lord Mayor
Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...
in 1940 at the time of the destruction of the previous versions.
Functions
Guildhall hosts many events throughout the year, the most notable one being the Lord Mayor's Banquet, which is held in honour of the immediate-past Lord Mayor and is the first to be hosted by the new Lord Mayor of the City of London. In keeping with tradition, it is at this banquet that the Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
makes a major world affairs speech. One of the last acts of the outgoing Lord Mayor is to present prizes at the City of London School
The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...
prize day at Guildhall. Other events include those of various law firms and award evenings for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET). The Worshipful Company of Carmen holds its cart-marking ceremony in the courtyard each July.
In 1992 during the Ruby Jubilee of Elizabeth II, a lunch was held at Guildhall to mark the 40th year of the Queen's reign. Elizabeth II made a famous ' annus horribilis' speech after the 1992 Windsor Castle fire and the separation of two of her children.
Guildhall Bar
The members' bar in the Guildhall is a highly subsidised facility for members of the Court of Common Council and the Court of Aldermen. Access to the facilities is a privilege for life, even after an individual ceases to be a member of either of these courts. Members can also entertain guests there. It is substantially cheaper than any other bar in the City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
, as it is subsidised from the City's Cash, a sovereign wealth fund
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund, is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...
.
See also
* Guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...
* Peterscourt
References
Further reading
* Baddeley, John James. ''A Guide to the Guildhall of the City of London'' (Simpkin Marshall, 1898)
*Barron, Caroline M. ''The Medieval Guildhall of London'' (Corporation of London, 1974)
*Greenglass, Graham & Dinsdale, Stephen. ''Guildhall: City of London. History. Guide. Companion'' (Pen & Sword, 2018)
*Perks, Sydney. ''The Restoration and Recent Discoveries at the Guildhall London'' (1910)
*Price, John Edward. ''A Descriptive Account of the Guildhall of the City of London'' (Blades, East & Blades, 1886)
*Welch, Charles (intro.) ''Catalogue of the Collection of London Antiquities in the Guildhall Museum'' (1903)
External links
City of London Corporation homepage on Guildhall
{{Authority control
1411 establishments in England
Buildings and structures completed in 1440
Government buildings completed in the 15th century
Grade I listed buildings in the City of London
Local government buildings in London
Tourist attractions in the City of London
History of the City of London
Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed during World War II
City and town halls in London
Georgian architecture in London
Gothic architecture in England
Roman London
Gog and Magog
Lady Jane Grey
Ruby Jubilee of Elizabeth II