Rochester Guildhall
| Rochester Guildhall | |
|
Kent | |
|---|---|
 The Guildhall | |
| Type: | Town hall |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ48508108 |
| Location: | 51°23’27"N, 0°30’10"E |
| Town: | Rochester |
| History | |
| Address: | High Street |
| Built 1697 | |
| Town hall | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Medway Council |
Rochester Guildhall stands of the High Street in Rochester in Kent. It served for two and a half centuries as the city's town hall, until 1974, and is a Grade I listed building.[1]
History
The first guildhall in Rochester stood further south along the High Street on a site where the Clock House now stands.[2]
The current building, the second guildhall, was constructed in 1697.[1] The design for the main frontage involved four bays: the ground floor was left open, apart from some paired Tuscan order columns, to allow markets to be held; the first floor was designed with four windows with white plaques in the middle commemorating the completion of the building in 1697 and also the financial contribution made by Sir Stafford Fairborne.[1] At roof level a large round-headed pediment was erected above which was a bell-turret was placed.[1] A weather vane in the form of an 18th-century warship was added in 1780.[3] Wings were added on the right in 1838 and on the left in 1893.[1]
Internally, the principal room was the courtroom which, in time, was also used as a council chamber. The magistrates' bench was curved so that attention was focussed on all the members of the bench and not just the chief magistrate.[4]
Both the council chamber and the staircase have magnificent plaster ceilings, which were given in 1695 by Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, who was the Member of Parliament for the City of Rochester at the time.[1]
The council chamber featured in the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in 1861.[5]
In the 1930s, in anticipation of the Second World War, a civil defence headquarters was established in the basement of the building.[6]
The council chamber was at last vacated when the City Council was abolished in 1974.
The Guildhall Museum
The museum was originally established at Eastgate House, further south along the High Street, to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.[7][8] The collection includes artefacts associated with Rochester from prehistoric times to the present day.[7] Works of art in the museum include a painting by Hendrik Frans van Lint depicting a classical Italian landscape,[9] a portrait of Sir Cloudesley Shovell by Michael Dahl[10] and a portrait of Sir Stafford Fairborne by Godfrey Kneller.[11]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Rochester Guildhall) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 National Heritage List 1186145: The Guildhall Including Ranges Running Parallel to Bull Lane, Rochester (Grade I listing)
- ↑ Hasted, Edward (1798). "'The city and liberty of Rochester: General history and description', in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent". Canterbury: British History Online. pp. 45–86. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol4/pp45-86. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ↑ "Mick the Brush gives Guildhall Museum, Rochester, weathervane a well-earned makeover". 14 February 2016. https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/stunning-weathervane-now-shipshape-90901/. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
- ↑ Lounsbury, Carl R. (1985). "Courthouse of 1770: Architectural Report, Block 19, Building 3, Originally entitled: "Order in the Court: Recommendations for the Restoration of the James City County/Williamsburg Courthouse"". Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library. p. 32. https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/DigitalLibrary/view/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports%5CRR1217.xml&highlight=.
- ↑ "Charles Dickens and Rochester". I know Kent. http://www.iknow-kent.co.uk:80/tourist_information/north_kent_coast/rochester/charles_dickens_rochester.htm. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
- ↑ "Discovering and recording Kent's 20th century military and civil defences: Medway District". Kent County Council. 1 February 2008. p. 19. http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/hbsmrgatewaykent/DataFiles/Docs/AssocDoc38036.pdf. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Acquisition and disposal policy". Guildhall Museum. p. 1. https://democracy.medway.gov.uk/Data/Regeneration,%20Community%20and%20Culture%20Overview%20and%20Scrutiny%20Committee/20080828/Agenda/orc20080828r-5.pdf. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ↑ "Rochester Guildhall Museum". Britain Express. https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=3930. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ↑ Van Lint, Hendrik Frans. "Classical Italian Landscape". Art UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/classical-italian-landscape-77138/search/venue:guildhall-museum-rochester-3997/page/5. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ↑ Dahl, Michael. "Sir Cloudesley Shovell (1650–1707), MP (1695–1707)". Art UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-cloudesley-shovell-16501707-mp-16951707-77110/search/venue:guildhall-museum-rochester-3997/page/3. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ↑ Kneller, Godfrey. "Sir Stafford Fairbourne, MP (1705–1708)". Art UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-stafford-fairbourne-mp-17051708-77133/search/venue:guildhall-museum-rochester-3997/page/3/view_as/grid. Retrieved 22 August 2020.