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A great hall is the main room of a royal
palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...
,
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
or a large
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
or hall house in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. It continued to be built in the
country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
s of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the
great chamber The great chamber was the second most important room in a medieval or Tudor English castle, palace, mansion, or manor house after the great hall. Medieval great halls were the ceremonial centre of the household and were not private at all; the g ...
for eating and relaxing. At that time the word "great" simply meant big and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence. In the medieval period, the room would simply have been referred to as the "hall" unless the building also had a secondary
hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...
. The term "great hall" has been mainly used for surviving rooms of this type for several centuries to distinguish them from the different type of
hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...
found in post-medieval houses. Great halls were found especially in France, England and Scotland, but similar rooms were also found in some other European countries. A typical great hall was a rectangular room between one and a half and three times as long as it was wide, and also higher than it was wide. It was entered through a screens passage at one end, and had windows on the long sides, often including a large bay window. There was usually a minstrels' gallery above the screens passage. The screens passage was divided from the hall by a timber screen with two openings. The portion of the screen between these openings could be movable, such as the one at Rufford Old Hall. At the other end of the hall was the
dais A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)dais
in the Random House Dictionary< ...
where the high table was situated. The ceiling above the dais was often ornamented to denote its higher status. The lord's family's more private rooms lay beyond the dais end of the hall, and the kitchen, buttery and
pantry A pantry is a room or cupboard where beverages, food, (sometimes) dishes, household cleaning products, linens or provisions are stored within a home or office. Food and beverage pantries serve in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. Etymol ...
were on the opposite side of the screens passage. The dais end is generally referred to as the 'upper' end, and the screens end as the 'lower' end. Even royal and noble residences had few living rooms until late in the Middle Ages, and a great hall was a multifunctional room. It was used for receiving guests and it was the place where the household would dine together, including the lord of the house, his gentleman attendants and at least some of the servants. At night some members of the household might sleep on the floor of the great hall.


Evolution

From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance, the hall was at the heart of residential complexes. Early examples were timber built and have vanished, only being known from documentary sources like ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...
'', and excavations. Archaeologists have uncovered Anglo-Saxon halls from the highest social levels at the palaces of Yeavering (Northumberland) and Cheddar (Somerset). The halls at both palaces were 120 feet (37m) long, that at Yeavering being seventh century and that at Cheddar (the first of several) being ninth century. Saxon halls were routinely aisled and occasionally had side walls that were bowed out in plan. At this point the hall was merely the largest of several detached structures, rather than being a room within a single building. From later Saxon times, the standard manorial plan began to emerge - the excavated tenth century hall at Sulgrave (Northamptonshire) has a definite 'high' end with an attached stone chamber wing and 'low' end with a cross-passage, services and detached kitchen. In the late tenth century, first floor stone halls began to be built in both France and England, partly for reasons of security. This form would become the basis for the hall keep. Examples can be seen at Langeais Castle (France),
Richmond Castle Richmond Castle in Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond, North Yorkshire, England, stands in a commanding position above the River Swale, close to the centre of the town of Richmond. It was originally called Riche Mount, 'the strong hill'. The ca ...
(England) and
Chepstow Castle Chepstow Castle () at Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales, is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain. Located above cliffs on the River Wye, construction began in 1067 under the instruction of the Normans, Norman Lord William ...
(Wales), as well as on the
Bayeux Tapestry The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidery, embroidered cloth nearly long and tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest, Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William the Conqueror, William, Duke of Normandy challenging H ...
. Many large ground floor aisled halls were built in England following the
Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
, as the key room in the new feudal society. The greatest was that at
Westminster Palace The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the ...
, built by
William Rufus William II (; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third son of William the Co ...
as a setting for secular royal events. Even ground floor halls were increasingly built of stone as the material became more widely available, though in thickly forested areas timber remained the material of choice. From the 13th century, improved carpentry techniques meant that roofs could span greater distances, eliminating the need for aisles, and by ''c.''1300, the standard hall plan with the dais and great chamber at the upper end and the entrance, screens passage and services at the lower end had become commonplace. After this time, the function of the hall began to narrow to solely a dining and circulation space, and architectural developments reflected that, with the rise of the wall fireplace and bay window (also known as an oriel) creating a more pleasant and specialised chamber. It was formerly considered that the decline of the hall began with the decline of feudalism in the 14th century. More recent scholarship, however, is of the opinion that the great hall retained vitality into the sixteenth century, with many of the most impressive halls being later, like those of
Eltham Palace Eltham Palace is a large house at Eltham ( ) in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The house consists of the medieval great hall of a former royal residence, to which an Art Deco extension was added in the 193 ...
(1475-80) and
Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...
(1532-35).


Architectural detail

The hall would originally have had a central hearth, with the smoke rising through a vent in the roof. Examples can be seen at Stokesay Castle and
Ludlow Castle Ludlow Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in the Ludlow, town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire, standing on a promontory overlooking the River Teme. The castle was probably founded by Walter de Lacy (died 1085), Wal ...
. Chimneys were later added, and it would then have one of the largest fireplaces of the palace, manor house or castle, frequently big enough to walk and stand inside. Where there was a wall fireplace, it was generally at the dais end of the hall with the bay window, as at Raglan Castle, so the lord could get the most heat and light. The hearth was used for heating and also for some of the cooking, although most houses had a dedicated kitchen for the bulk of the cooking. The fireplace would commonly have an elaborate overmantel with stone or wood carvings or
plasterwork Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster Molding (decorative), decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called parge ...
which might contain
coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic ac ...
, heraldic mottoes (usually in Latin), caryatids or another adornment. In the upper halls of French manor houses, the fireplaces were usually very large and elaborate. The great hall typically had the finest decorations, as well as on the window frame mouldings of the outer wall. Many French manor houses have very beautifully decorated external window frames on the large mullioned windows that light the hall. This decoration clearly marked the window as belonging to the lord's private hall. It was where guests slept. In western France, the early manor houses were centred on a ground-floor hall. Later, the hall reserved for the lord and his high-ranking guests was moved up to the first-floor level. This was called the ''salle haute'' or upper hall (or "high room"). In some of the larger three-storey manor houses, the upper hall was as high as the second storey roof. The smaller ground-floor hall or ''salle basse'' remained, but was for receiving guests of any social order. It is very common to find these two halls superimposed, one on top of the other, in larger manor houses in Normandy and Brittany. Access from the ground-floor hall to the upper (great) hall was normally via an external staircase tower. The upper hall often contained the lord's bedroom and living quarters off one end. In Scotland, six common furnishings were present in the sixteenth-century hall: the high table and principal seat; side tables for others; the cupboard and silver plate; the hanging chandelier, often called the 'hart-horn' made of antler; ornamental weapons, commonly a halberd; and the cloth and napery used for dining. Occasionally the great hall would have an early listening device system, allowing conversations to be heard in the lord's bedroom above. In Scotland, these devices are called a
laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...
's lug. In many French manor houses, there are small peepholes from which the lord could observe what was happening in the hall. This type of hidden peephole is called a ''judas'' in French. In England, such an opening is referred to as a squint and there are two connecting the hall and great chamber in Stokesay Castle.


Examples

Many great halls still exist to this day. Three very large surviving royal halls are
Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...
, Ridderzaal in
Binnenhof The Binnenhof (; ) is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, Netherlands, next to the Hofvijver (Court Pond). It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministry of Gener ...
and the Vladislav Hall in
Prague Castle Prague Castle (; ) is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic serving as the official residence and workplace of the president of the Czech Republic. Built in the 9th century, the castle has long served as the seat of power for List of rulers ...
(although the latter was used only for public events and never as a great hall). Penshurst Place in
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
,
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 ...
, has a little-altered 14th century example, and Great Chalfield Manor has a similarly intact 15th century one. At the scale of
yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...
housing, a restored 15th century hall can be seen in Bayleaf Farmhouse, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum. Surviving 16th and early 17th century specimens in Britain are numerous, for example those at
Eltham Palace Eltham Palace is a large house at Eltham ( ) in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The house consists of the medieval great hall of a former royal residence, to which an Art Deco extension was added in the 193 ...
(England), Longleat (England), Deene Park (England), Burghley House (England), Bodysgallen Hall (Wales), Darnaway Castle (Scotland), Muchalls Castle (Scotland) and Crathes Castle (Scotland). There are numerous ruined examples, notably at
Linlithgow Palace The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are located in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland in the 15th and 16th ce ...
(Scotland), Kenilworth Castle (England) and
Raglan Castle Raglan Castle () is a Late Middle Ages, late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan, Monmouthshire, Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th cent ...
(Wales).


Survival

The domestic and monastic model applied to collegiate institutions during the Middle Ages. A few university colleges, including
Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...
(1277), Peterhouse, Cambridge (1290), University College, Durham (between 1284 and 1311, originally for the Prince Bishop of Durham),
Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...
(1350), and
New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
(14th century), have medieval halls which are still used as dining rooms on a daily basis; many other colleges have later halls built in a similar medieval style, as do the
Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...
and the
Livery Companies A livery company is a type of guild or professional association that originated in medieval times in London, England. Livery companies comprise London's ancient and modern trade associations and guilds, almost all of which are Style (form of a ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. The "high table" (often on a small dais or stage at the top of the hall, furthest away from the screens passage) seats dons (at the universities) and Masters of the Bench (at the Inns of Court), whilst students (at the universities) and barristers or students (at the Inns of Court) dine at tables placed at right angles to the high table and running down the body of the hall, thus maintaining the hierarchical arrangement of the medieval domestic, monastic or collegiate household. Numerous more recently founded schools and institutions have halls and dining halls based on medieval great halls or monastic refectories.


Decline and revival

From the 15th century onwards, halls lost most of their traditional functions to more specialised rooms, first for family members and guests to the
great chamber The great chamber was the second most important room in a medieval or Tudor English castle, palace, mansion, or manor house after the great hall. Medieval great halls were the ceremonial centre of the household and were not private at all; the g ...
and parlours, withdrawing rooms, and later for servants who finally achieved their own servants hall to eat in and servants’ bedrooms in attics or basements). By the late 16th century, the great hall was beginning to lose its purpose. Increasing centralization of power in royal hands meant that men of good social standing were less inclined to enter the service of a lord to obtain his protection, and so the size of the inner noble household shrank. As the social gap between master and servant grew, the family retreated, usually to the first floor, to private rooms. In fact, servants were not normally allowed to use the same staircases as nobles to access the great hall of larger castles in early times , and servants' staircases are still extant in places such as Muchalls Castle. Other reception and living rooms in country houses became more numerous, specialised and important, and by the late 17th century, the halls of many new houses were simply vestibules, passed through to get to somewhere else, but not lived in. Several great halls like that at
Great Hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...
in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
were downsized to create two rooms. From the 16th century onwards, it was common to insert a floor into the smaller halls to create a lower entrance hall and a commodious first floor chamber. The halls of late 17th, 18th and 19th-century country houses and palaces usually functioned almost entirely as impressive entrance points to the house, and for large scale entertaining, as at Christmas, for dancing, or when a touring company of actors performed. With the arrival of ballrooms and dedicated music rooms in the largest houses by the late 17th century, these functions too were lost. Where large halls survived, it was usually due to continuing institutional use, especially as a courtroom. This change of use preserved the halls of
Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
,
Oakham Oakham is a market town and civil parish in Rutland (of which it is the county town) in the East Midlands of England. The town is located east of Leicester, southeast of Nottingham and northwest of Peterborough. It had a population of 12,14 ...
and
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
Castles. Other halls, like that at Eltham Palace, remained standing in a neglected state as barns. There was a revival of the great hall concept in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with large halls used for banqueting and entertaining (but not as eating or sleeping places for servants) featuring in some houses of this period as part of a broader medieval revival, for example Thoresby Hall. Some medieval halls were also restored from neglect or ruin, like that at Mayfield Palace, which now serves Mayfield School.


In popular culture

* In the
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
franchise of books, films, and video games, the Great Hall within
Hogwarts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional boarding school of magic for young wizards. It is the primary setting for the first six novels in the '' Harry Potter'' series by J. K. Rowling, and also serves as a major setti ...
is the site of meals, feasts, assemblies, and awards ceremonies. *
Winchester Castle Winchester Castle is a medieval building in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1067. Only the Great Hall still stands; it houses a museum of the history of Winchester. History Early history Around AD 70 the Romans constructed a ...
's Great Hall is an important site in British history; it was the location of the trial of
Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebell ...
and partially of the Bloody Assizes and it also contains a well-preserved imitative Arthurian
Round Table The Round Table (; ; ; ) is King Arthur's famed table (furniture), table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status, unlike co ...
.


See also

*
Banquet hall A banquet hall, function hall, or reception hall, is a special purpose room, or a building, used for hosting large social and business events. Typically a banquet hall is capable of serving dozens to hundreds of people a meal in a timely fashion. P ...
* Dining hall * Great room * Hall and parlor house *
Manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
*
Mead hall Among the early Germanic peoples, a mead hall or feasting hall was a large building with a single room intended to receive guests and serve as a center of community social life. From the fifth century to the Early Middle Ages such a building was t ...
* Moot hall *
Refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...
* Tapestry


Notes


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Hall Architecture in the United Kingdom Rooms Castle architecture