Moot Hall, Maldon
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The Moot Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in
Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...
,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, England. The building, which was the headquarters of Maldon Borough Council, is a Grade I
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 ...
.


History

The first moot hall was a
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
structure on the west side of Silver Street close to the High Street. The current building was originally part of a town house which was commissioned by the local member of parliament, Sir Robert Darcy: it was designed in the
neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...
, built in red brick and completed in around 1420. Darcy's son, Roger, inherited the house in 1448, but, after Roger Darcy died in 1508, the house was left to deteriorate. After the rear part of the house had been demolished in 1536, the building was acquired by the local
bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...
, John Church, in 1539. Following Church's death in 1554, the building was again allowed to deteriorate until it was acquired by the borough council and converted for municipal use in 1576. Court hearings and civic meetings were transferred from the old moot hall in Silver Street at that time. The design of the new moot hall involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto the High street. On the ground floor there was a
tetrastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...
portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
with
Doric order The Doric order is 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 t ...
columns supporting a heavily
modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...
ed
canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
: at the back of the portico were two doorways with
fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...
s and a blind central alcove. On the first floor there were two full-height round headed
sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...
s, one of which gave access to the
balcony A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...
, and on the second floor, there was a single sash window. The building included a castellated tower containing a
spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...
, which spiralled anti-clockwise, at its north east corner, as well as a small annexe, which contained a vaulted basement, at its northwest corner. A projecting clock, made by Gillett, Bland & Co. and given to the town by the local member of parliament, George Courtauld, was installed on the front of the building in 1881; it was accompanied by a
belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...
, complete with five bells (cast by the same company), which was installed on the annexe roof at that time. An iron balustrade and a pair of lamps were also installed on the balcony in the late 19th century. Internally, the ground floor of the moot hall was used as a prison before becoming a police station in 1836; it remained in that use until the police service moved to West Square in 1912 and was then converted for use as a committee room and as a mayor's parlour. The first floor was used as a magistrates' court until 1950 while the second floor was used as a council chamber for meetings of the borough council. Meanwhile, the annexe contained a jury room on the first floor and a muniment room on the second floor. The moot hall continued to serve as the headquarters of Maldon Borough Council for much of the 20th century but ceased being the local seat of government when the enlarged
Maldon District Council Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produc ...
was formed in 1974. It subsequently became a local history museum and a venue for marriages and civil partnership ceremonies. Works of art in the town hall include a portrait by
Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723) was a German-born British painter. The leading Portrait painting, portraitist in England during the late Stuart period, Stuart and early Georgian eras ...
of King George I and a portrait by Robert Peake the Elder of
Elizabeth Raleigh Elizabeth, Lady Raleigh (''née'' Throckmorton; 16 April 1565 – c. 1647), was an English courtier, a Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I of England. Her secret marriage to Sir Walter Raleigh precipitated a long period of ...
, wife of
Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellio ...
.


See also

*
Grade I listed buildings in Essex Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...


References

{{reflist City and town halls in Essex Maldon, Essex Grade I listed buildings in Essex