Guildhall
Guildhall Yard, off Gresham Street
London
EC2V 5AE
T: 020 7606 3030
Visitor Information
Architect: Sir Horace Jones (restoration 1866)
Built: 1411
Size: 46.3 x 15 metres (Great Hall)
Where the first London Guildhall was, or when it was established, is not certain. The Gothic building still standing today was begun in 1411 and, having survived both the Great Fire of London and the Blitz, is the only secular stone structure dating from before 1666 still standing in the City.
The reconstruction of Guildhall was completed by 1673 – the west crypt was shored up with brick arches, the walls of the grand Hall were heightened, clerestory windows added and a low-pitched roof, with a flat ceiling to suit the classical taste, was built. Later, in 1788-9, George Dance the Younger designed the deep Portland stone doorway, which mixes Gothic, classical and oriental motifs. Guildhall underwent major restoration in the 1860s when City Architect Horace Jones restored its Gothic splendour with a new wooden hammerbeam roof with smaller dormers. Jones was also responsible for extensive alterations to the interior.
Fundamentally medieval, Guildhall’s walls are largely original, as are the columns against the walls which divide the Hall (the third largest civic hall in England) into eight bays. Beneath Guildhall lays the largest medieval crypt in London – well worth a visit.
The building’s Gothic façade dominates a large ceremonial yard which is also home to the City of London's 1970s local authority offices and the Guildhall Art Gallery, built in the 1990s.
Guildhall is open free of charge to the public when it is not being used for events.