PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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The first Guildhall Plymouth's first Guildhall was said to have been in Woolster Street. The Jacobean Guildhall This large building, with the shambles underneath, was erected in 1606-07 under the direction of a Thomas Apsey, of 'Nettlecom'. It cost £794 8s 1d.
The Jacobean Guildhall The tower held a clock and this was surmounted by a cupola, which was rebuilt in 1706. A flight of seventeen steps outside the tower gave access to the porch and the main hall. Worth in his "History of Plymouth" states that 'These became in time proverbial; and a hint that anyone would have to ascend that number of stairs was held the reverse of complimentary.' At the western end of the main hall were seats for the Mayor, Magistrates and Councillors, while at the eastern end was a staircase that led to the small Council Chamber, which was partly in the tower and partly over the hall. Also in the building was a debtors' prison and a room where criminals were held pending sentencing. Beneath the tower was the Clink, a couple of dungeons that were, says Worth, 'justly the terror of all evildoers'. In the space under the hall the Corporation would assemble on a Sunday morning before processing to St Andrew's Church. As related above, the Jacobean Guildhall was demolished in 1799 in readiness for the new one that appeared on the same site. Mr Evelegh's Guildhall
Built at a cost of £7,000, it was constructed mainly of limestone but with granite pinnacles taken from the previous building. Beneath the illuminated clock was the main entrance which led up to the great hall. On either side of the doorway were the police offices and cells. The latter were said to be totally inadequate by 1810 although it was to be forty years before they were replaced by the new Borough Prison. The building also included the Council Chamber, the Town Clerk's office, a library, the magistrate's room and waiting rooms for witnesses. A Mr Isable was the mason responsible for the construction work, while others in the team were Mr Alger, painter and glazier, and Mr Drew, the carpenter. The only accident during the construction was to Mr Drew's son, who fell from the roof and broke his thigh. Maybe the fact that Mr Evelegh was reputedly a discharged Borough Surveyor had something to do with the fact that very quickly the building was condemned as: 'inconvenient as a guildhall, unsuited as a mayoralty house, inadequate as a prison and absurd as a market'. In the 1860s the Borough's scarlet fire engine could be seen in the open archway at the eastern end of the building. It had a steam pump, brass boiler and a copper funnel. The horses stood close by with their harnesses suspended above them so they could be lowered quickly into position. A painting of King William IV in the unifrom of Lord High Admiral adounred the Council Chamber. It had been purchased privately by the Mayor, Mr J Burnell, and at the Town Council meeting on Wednesday May 2nd, he presented it to the Council specifically for the Council Chamber. When the present Guildhall was opened in 1873, this building lay idle until 1876, when it was opened as the new Free Library and Reading Rooms. From 1910 onwards, when the present Library building at Drake Circus was opened, the old Guildhall was used by the City Treasury and Stores Officer. Consequently, when it was bombed during the raids of 1941 the City lost all its stores records and Rate Valuation lists. By February 1945 the building had been demolished, 146 years after it had been built. Read about the present Plymouth Guildhall.......... Read about the Plympton Guildhall..........
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