Cambridge Guildhall is a civic building in the centre of the historic city of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It includes two halls, ''The Large Hall'' and ''The Small Hall'', and is used for many disparate events such as comedy acts, conferences, craft fairs, live music, talks, and weddings. It is also used by the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

for certain examinations. It is owned and managed by the Cambridge City Council, and it is their seat of government. The Guildhall is located on the south side of Market Hill, the

market square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...

in Cambridge, between Peas Hill to the west and Guildhall Street to the east. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The earliest known property on the site was a house, previously owned by a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

known as Benjamin, which King Henry III granted to the town for use as a prison in 1224. An adjoining

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

was leased to the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

s who later moved to a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

on a site where

Sidney Sussex College Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

now stands. In 1270 the premises became the "tolbooth" as it was known then since its main function concerned tolls for entry to the town and trading at the market. The tollbooth was also used for plays and the troupe of actors, '' Queen Elizabeth's Men,'' performed regularly between 1561 and 1562 and again between 1596 and 1597. In 1747, a shire house, designed by Sharman and Barratt in the Classical style, was built, on arches with stalls beneath, on the open area at the front of the

Market Square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...

, just to the north of the old tollbooth. Meanwhile, the old tollbooth was rebuilt to a design by James Essex at a cost of £2,500 in 1782. The shire house and the tollbooth were connected by a wooden bridge over Butter Row, a narrow market street with stalls selling

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s. The two buildings operated collectively as "the guildhall" from the late 1840s. After the old guildhall became inadequate for the council's needs, the current guildhall, which was designed by Charles Cowles-Voysey in the Neo-Georgian style, was built on the site of the two original buildings at a cost of £150,000 and completed in 1939. The guildhall continued to be used as a public venue and concert performers included the

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

singer, Kathleen Ferrier, who made an appearance on 17 May 1951. A sculpture created by Michael Ayrton in 1950, entitled "Talos", was erected on Guildhall Street in 1973. The guildhall, which had served as the headquarters of the Municipal Borough of Cambridge, continued to be the local seat of government after the creation of Cambridge City Council in 1974. The guildhall was the venue for Crown Court hearings until a dedicated courthouse opened in East Road in June 2004. The

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and Duchess of Cambridge visited the guildhall and waved to the crowd from the balcony in November 2012. File:Cambridge market place Le Keux 1841.jpg, View of the 18th century shire house (on the left) in the Market Place in 1841 File:cmglee_Cambridge_Guildhall_dinner.jpg, A dinner in the Large Hall of the Cambridge Guildhall viewed from its stage File:cmglee_Cambridge_Guildhall_vaccination.jpg,

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

vaccination in the Large Hall of the Cambridge Guildhall viewed from its main entrance File:TalosCambridge.jpg, View of Cambridge Guildhall in Guildhall Street, with ''Talos'', a sculpture by Michael Ayrton, in foreground in 2006

References

External links

The Cambridge Guildhall website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guildhall, Cambridge Government buildings completed in 1939 Culture in Cambridge History of Cambridge Politics of Cambridge

Grade II listed buildings in Cambridge

History

See also

References

External links