Guildhall, Windsor

The Guildhall in Windsor, Berkshire, England, is the town hall. It is situated in the High Street, about 100 metres from Castle Hill, which leads to the main public entrance to Windsor Castle. It is a Grade I listed building.

History of guildhalls in Windsor

The borough of Windsor possessed a guildhall from early times. A deed of 1369, now in the possession of Eton College, refers to the "gildaule", and a charter of 1439 states that "pleas happening in the said borough...shall be pleaded and holden in the guildhall there, before the mayor and bailiffs for the time being". Norden's map of 1607 shows a market house in the location of the present guildhall: the main part of it is raised on wooden pillars to allow the space beneath to be used as a covered corn market.

Construction of the present guildhall

The erection of the present guildhall was begun in 1687, under the direction of Sir Thomas Fitz (or Fiddes) but, on his death in 1689, the task was taken over by Sir Christopher Wren, whose childhood home had been Windsor, and was completed at a cost of £2687 - 1s - 6d. The new building was designed by Wren to be supported around its perimeter by stone columns, so that, like its predecessor, it would provide a covered area beneath it for the holding of corn markets.

The story is widely told that the borough Council demanded that Wren should insert additional columns within the covered area, in order to support the weight of the heavy building above; Wren, however, was adamant that these were not necessary. Eventually the council insisted and, in due course, the extra supporting columns were built, but Wren made them slightly short, so that they do not quite touch the ceiling, hence proving his claim that they are not necessary! Whatever the truth of this story, it is undeniable that, to this day, there is a small gap between the columns and the ceiling.

Restoration and extension of the building

In 1829, the building was extended, with the addition of a two-storey building at the back of the existing hall. Major restorations of the building were undertaken in 1851, due to some years of neglect, and again in 1950-51, following its use as a food office during World War II. The restored building was reopened during the Festival of Britain by the (then) Princess Elizabeth.

Usage of the guildhall

The historic purpose of the building combined both the commercial (through the system of guilds) and administrative (through the offices of the mayor and town councillors). There has also been a judicial aspect to its role as, historically, the mayor automatically held the post of chief magistrate of the borough. Windsor had the right to hold Quarter Sessions until 1971 and so the guildhall was also used as a courtroom.

Windsor Guildhall today

In 1974, with the formation of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, the two towns' councils were merged and, since then, the guildhall has been used more for ceremonial events, although committee meetings are still held there.

On April 9 2005, Windsor Guildhall was thrust into the view of the world's media as it was the location of the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles, being the nearest place to the castle that is licensed to hold weddings. On December 21, it also hosted one of the first same sex civil partnership ceremonies to be held in England, that of Sir Elton John and David Furnish.

References

* Raymond South: "The Book of Windsor", 1977, Barracuda Books Ltd, ISBN 0-86023-038-4