Carlisle Guildhall is an historic building in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. It is in the city centre, on the corner of Fisher Street and Greenmarket. It is a Grade I

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 ...

, listed on 1 June 1949. The upper floors now house a museum.

History and description

It was built by Richard de Redness, probably between 1396 and 1407; it is thought that it was built after a fire in 1391 that destroyed many buildings in Carlisle. It is an L-shaped timber-framed building. There is an open roof structure;

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...

of the roof timber has shown that it all dates from the original construction of the building, although the roof of the Fisher Street section, supported by four

crown post A crown post is a term in traditional timber framing for a post in roof framing which stands on a '' tie beam'' or '' collar beam'' and supports a ''collar plate''.Alcock, N. W.. Recording timber-framed buildings: an illustrated glossary. Londo ...

s, is constructed differently from the Greenmarket section."The Guildhall Museum"
Carlisle City Council. Retrieved 12 August 2020. The ground floor, which may have been originally an open structure, has been used for trading during its history. The museum, housed in the upper floors, was opened in 1978. The exhibits show the history of the

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

s of Carlisle."Guildhall Museum"
''Visit Cumbria''. Retrieved 12 August 2020.

References

{{reflist Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria 15th-century architecture in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Carlisle, Cumbria Local museums in Cumbria Buildings and structures completed in the 15th century

History and description

See also

References