NHER 5483 (Building record) - St George's Guildhall, King Street

St George's Guildhall.

December 1951. Listed, Grade I.

November 1977. Field Observation.
Visited by E. Rose (NAU).
Land for building purchased in 1406. Brick. Large 16th century window to street. Side windows also of this date. Side walls bulge and are supported by buttresses added in the restoration as theatre in 1951. 17th century brick undercroft. Roof has lost its tiebeams and hammerbeams. Warehouses behind, said to be 16th-17th century, include stone blocks in south wall which could be much older.
Compiled by E. Rose (NAU), 2 November 1977. Information from record card (S1).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2023.

However the official guide states that the buttresses were added about 1500 when roof began to spread (perhaps since renewed) and five king-post trusses were added to roof to tie it in. Vaulting of original undercroft removed then replaced in 17th century as wine cellar. Building used as magazine in Civil War and as theatre in 18th century.
Compiled by E. Rose (NAU). Information from record card (S1).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2023.

V. Parker in (S2) dates the building to about 1410 but T. Smith in (S3) dates it to 1435-1450 on account of scissor brace roof.
E. Rose (NAU). Information from record card (S1).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2023.

1996. Dendochronological Survey.
Dendrochronological and visual analysis of roof timbers dated scissor truss roof to 1397 to 1430; kingpost timbers (stored in building at rear) were undatable. Reference to hammerbeams above may be a mistake. Floor beams dated 1417 to 1457.
See report (S4) for further details. This survey is also noted in (S8).
E. Rose (NLA), 25 April 1997.

1996. Rectified Photographic Survey.
Survey and further analysis carried by NAU prior to repointing.
Work for National Trust who presently retain the archive.
This work is noted in (S9).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 21 March 2017.

Source [1] however dates the warehouses at rear to after 1814 when a wing of warehouses behind 27 King Street was demolished.
E. Rose (NLA), 28 May 1998.

See file for further details.
Descheduled 1997.

Revised listed building description 1993, (S5), takes a somewhat different view than the above sources; it confirms that the buttresses were much rebuilt in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries but says original undercroft had a flat wooden ceiling. The three barns/warehouses at rear are dated to the 15th and 16th centuries, much altered, as originally suggested above and certainly not post 1814. Said to be largest surviving medieval guildhall in England.
Hall Grade I, barns Grade II.
E. Rose (NLA), 11 March 1999.

An illustration in (S6), though somewhat idealised, confirms the arches through the buttresses were there in 1861.
E. Rose (NLA), 13 November 2001.

See (S7) in file giving outline of history of the acquisition by the guild and pointing out that the arches in the buttresses were to cross a pre-existing boundary ditch of flowing water.
E. Rose (NLA), 26 October 2004.

E. Rose (above) suggests that (S2) proposed a construction date of 1410. However, (S2) in fact notes that construction began in 1406. She notes this as an example of building on a 'narrow plan' block at the beginning of the 15th century. The two-storeyed hall was built with its gable end facing the street and laid out so that narrow passageways were left down both sides of the building. These were not to provide access to the quay at the rear, but to allow space for the large brick buttresses used to support the roof, and to provide light-wells on either side of the hall. The main room was on the first floor above an undercroft. The hall itself was not divided, and cooking took place in a separate kitchen mentioned in descriptions of the Guild's property in 1561. However, by 1602 a chimney had been inserted into the north wall. The roof was scissor braced but without supporting tie beams since the walls were supported from outside by huge brick buttresses. Between the buttresses were large windows with four-centred arch heads and there was a further large window in the east gable. Access to the hall on the first floor must have been via an internal stair in the north-east corner. The low undercroft has been partially rebuilt with a brick barrel-vaulted ceiling but originally had a timber ceiling throughout. It seems most likely that the undercroft, which had no windows, was used as a warehouse for the gild. The hall is built in brown brick throughout, with carved stone door and window frames.
When the gilds were suppressed in King's Lynn in 1547 it was acquired by the Corporation and was described in documentary sources as a hall with a cellar, pantry and kitchen annexed and had numerous outbuildings. It was used occasionally by Elizabethan travelling players and in 1588 was leased by George Waldon to start a school for learning French. It later became a sailmaker's workshop, and in 1653 a merchant's exchange. When the new Exchange (later the Customs House (NHER 5479)) the hall became ruinous. In the 18th century it was revived as a theatre.
See (S2) for further details and reconstruction drawing.
(S10) notes that the success of the Guildhall as a playhouse led to a modern theatre being built in St James' Street and the Guildhall reverted to use as a warehouse when it was sold in 1814. When his estate was bought by the Lynn merchant family of Everard in 1826, the Guildhall became a wool warehouse. By 1945 the building was again derelict. It was purchased by Alexander Penrose and given to the National Trust. Following a programme of renovation it was opened as a theatre and arts centre in 1951. The adjoining former warehouses to the west were converted to galleries in 1963 by Lady Fermoy (lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother) as a memorial to her late husband, Lord Fermoy, formerly mayor of King’s Lynn and its MP. The Arts Centre ceased operation in 2015 and the building is currently unused and in need of renovation.
(S10) describes the building, measuring 32.6m (107 feet) by 8.8m (29 feet), as 'the largest surviving medieval guildhall in the country'.
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 11 February 2020.

Listing Description excerpt:
"Guildhall for the Guild of St George, now a theatre and restaurant. Founded 1376, granted charter 1406, constructed 1410-1420. Various theatre and warehouse functions from mid 16th century, restored 1948-1951 by Marshall Sisson and passed to The National Trust. Brick with ashlar dressings and plaintile roof. Rectangular range running west with the gable-end to the road. Two storeys. Façade has one four-centred doorway right and left with hood moulds on label stops, the arches and jambs double-chamfered with a hollow separating the chamfers. The doors are 1949. Between them is a blocked doorway now used a a display case. Above is a six-light double-transomed panel tracery window with arches to the upper transom lights and the window head, all much restored. Gabled roof. Façade closed to either side by polygonal corner turrets stepping up to the eaves, now encased by adjoining buildings, that to the south virtually disappeared. North and south flanking walls supported on stepped buttresses, those to the north repaired in 18th and 19th century, those to the south repaired 20th century. Pedestrian arches cut through both sets, the northern ones allowed a town drain to flow alongside the hall. On the north side the two-light mullioned brick windows lighting the warehouse undercroft remain, one between each buttresss, but to the south they have been largely obliterated by later alterations and new building…The western gable head has additions of 1948 at first floor level, and earlier buildings abut the ground floor. INTERIOR. Internal disposition comprises a passageway to the south running the whole length of the building, entered from the corresponding doorway in the facade. The other doorway opens into the 20th-century foyer and leads to a flight of steps on the north side descending into the undercroft, now a restaurant. Against the east wall of the foyer is a 20th-century staircase in 17th-century style rising to the great hall itself. The south passage has various doorways cut through the brick wall to the north side serving the undercroft and rehearsal rooms to the west end, all of post 16th-century date. On its south side are 20th-century toilet facilities which have blocked mullioned windows formerly lighting the passage. The original function of the passage was to provide accesss to the rear and the river. Heavy bridging beams support very wide floorboards, some of the beams shaved to increase headroom. The foyer has 20th-century detailing except for a wave-moulded bridging beam running north-south and two chamfered bridging beams running east-west, set higher up. The undercroft originally had a flat timber ceiling supported on heavy bridging beams, part of which exists to the east end. This replaced in early 18th century with a brick elliptical vault. The guildhall on the first floor is now ramped up at the east end and fitted with seating. Multiple-roll moulded wall plates supporting ashlaring and a scissor-braced roof of 61 trusses. The external buttresses removed the need for tie-beams and King-posts..."
Information from (S1).
Please consult the National Heritage List for England (S1) for the current listing details.
P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2023.

The range of warehouses extending to the rear of St George's Guildhall were added in stages between c.1420 and the late 15th century, as the river receded westwards. These were listed Grade II in 1951 and are now recorded separately as NHERs 67166 (central and eastern part of range) and 67167 (western end of range and associated water gate). A free-standing former barn or general storehouse of 16th-century date immediately south-west of St George's Guildhall (The Red Barn) was listed Grade II in 1993 and is now recorded as NHER 67165.
P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2023.