St Mary's Hall is a municipal building in Bayley Lane in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...

, West Midlands, 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 I ...

History

The building was built in the Medieval style between 1340 and 1342 and much altered and extended in 1460. The guildhall originally served as the headquarters of the merchant guild of St Mary, and subsequently of the united guilds of the Holy Trinity, St Mary, St John the Baptist and St Katherine. Following the suppression of the chantries and religious guilds under

King Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and 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 and the first En ...

in 1547, for a time it served as the city's armoury and as its treasury (until 1822), as well as the headquarters for administration for the city council (until the

Council House A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...

opened in 1920). In November 1569, following the Catholic

Rising of the North The Rising of the North of 1569, also called the Revolt of the Northern Earls or Northern Rebellion, was an unsuccessful attempt by Catholic nobles from Northern England to depose Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of ...

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

was rushed south from

Tutbury Castle Tutbury Castle is a largely ruined medieval castle at Tutbury, Staffordshire, England, in the ownership of the Duchy of Lancaster and hence currently of King Charles III. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. People who have stayed in the castle ...

to Coventry.

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

sent a letter, instructing the people of Coventry to look after Mary. She suggested that Mary be held somewhere secure such as

Coventry Castle __NOTOC__ Coventry Castle () was a motte and bailey castle in the city of Coventry, England. It was demolished in the late 12th century and St Mary's Guildhall was built on part of the site. History Construction It was built in the early 12th ...

. However, by that time the castle was too decayed and Mary was instead first held at the Bull Inn, Smithford Street before being moved to the Mayoress's Parlour in St Mary's Guildhall. Following the defeat of the rebels, Mary was once more sent north to Chatsworth in May 1570. On 3 April 1604 Princess Elizabeth and her ladies rode from

Coombe Abbey Coombe Abbey is a hotel which has been developed from a historic grade I listed building and former country house. It is located at Combe Fields in the Borough of Rugby, roughly midway between Coventry and Brinklow in the countryside of Warwic ...

to Coventry. She heard a sermon in

St Michael's Church St. Michael's Church are churches generally named after Michael the Archangel and include: Albania * Basilica of Saint Michael, Arapaj * Church of St. Michael (Berat) * St. Michael's Church, Menshat * St. Michael's Church, Moscopole * St. ...

and dined in St Mary's Hall. Prince Henry rode to Coventry from Leicester on 20 August 1612 and had supper in St Mary's Hall. He stayed at a house in Little Park street.

George Eld George Eld (died 1624) was a London printer of the Jacobean era, who produced important works of English Renaissance drama and literature, including key texts by William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and Thomas Middleton. Eld ...

, mayor of Coventry (1834–5) was an antiquarian who encouraged appreciation of Coventry's ancient buildings. He initiated the restoration of the fourteenth-century interior of the mayoress's parlour. In 1861, the artist David Gee painted ''The Godiva Procession Leaving St Mary's Hall'', which is now on display in the

Herbert Art Gallery and Museum Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (also known as the Herbert) is a museum, art gallery, records archive, learning centre, media studio and creative arts facility on Jordan Well, Coventry, England. Overview The museum is named after Sir Alfred Herb ...

, Coventry. Restoration work by the council received the approval of the committee of the Coventry City Guild in 1930. Improvements had included the repair of the door at the north entrance to the crypt and providing glass and grilles in the windows of the fore crypt. Outside the crumbling exterior stonework was stabilized. The building also has a vaulted

undercroft An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open ...

which is currently used as a restaurant. The building retains a collection of royal portraits from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, arms and armour, fine stained glass and one of the country's most important tapestries dating from circa 1500. Works of art include a portrait by John Shackleton of King George I, a portrait by Godfrey Kneller of Queen Caroline of Ansbach and a marble statue by

William Calder Marshall William Calder Marshall ARSA (18 March 1813 – 16 June 1894) was a Scottish sculptor. Life He was born at Gilmour Place in Edinburgh, the eldest son of William Marshall a goldsmith with a shop at 1 South Bridge and his wife Annie Calder. He ...

Lady Godiva Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly re ...

References

External links

{{Commonscatinline, St Mary's Hall, Coventry, St Mary's Guildhall Buildings and structures in Coventry History of Coventry Guildhalls in the United Kingdom Grade I listed buildings in the West Midlands (county)

History

See also

References

External links