History of Winchester Guildhall

Early History

Winchester Guildhall is on the site of an estate granted by Alfred the Great to his wife Ealswith probably as a coronation gift in ad 871. After his death she retired there and founded a nunnery known as Nunnaminster. Known in the later medieval ages as St. Mary's Abbey, it was one of the foremost nunneries in England. In 1539 Henry VIII dissolved the abbey and the site passed to the crown. The land came into the city's hands to help defray its costs for hosting the wedding Mary Tudor and Philip of Spain in Winchester Cathedral in 1554.

The Guildhall

Winchester's earliest guildhall was located next to the Butter Cross in a small chamber above the passageway leading from the High Street to the cathedral. In 1712 it occupied the upper chamber of the Old Market House on the High Street, while the ground floor served as a covered market. The expansion of civic responsibilities following the Local Reform Act of 1835 markedly changed the role of guildhalls and Winchester needed a newer and larger building.

The Hastings architectural firm Jeffrey and Skiller submitted a design in the Gothic revival style. On 22nd December 1871 Viscount Eversley laid the foundation stone and in May 1873 Lord Selborne opened the new Guildhall. The total cost of construction was £16,000.

The Guildhall was part of a larger complex, housing the law courts, police station and fire brigade. The greater part was given over to civic roles including council meetings, mayor making ceremonies, the mayor's leaving banquet, and the mayor's charity events.

Events for larger audiences occurred on the Broadway where the Guildhall grand façade formed a backdrop to the podium on the staircase. These included the victory celebrations following World War I and royal visit of George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the 17th May 1946.

For a building of Gothic revival design, the Guildhall façade is relatively uncluttered. Its decoration includes four statues of kings and bishops with Winchester connections. Placed in the arches above the principle windows are sculpted panels showing events reflecting the ancient dignity of the mayor and major events in the city's history. In pride of place is the central panel below the clock tower that shows Florence de Lunne, Winchester's 1st mayor, receiving the city's charter from King Henry II.

Kings Court

Before 1892 this was the site of city's police station and fire brigade. Kings Court was designed by the local architect JB Colson to house the city library and Winchester School of Art. Started in 1892 and completed in 1893. Its façade in the Gothic revival style was to compliment, but be distinct from, that of the Guildhall. The building was gutted by fire in 1969 and in 1978 the upper floor, still unroofed, was used as a museum store . The building was repaired in 1980s and occupied by a series of commercial enterprises until the city council reoccupied the building in 2007.