Newport Guildhall is a large

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

municipal building in

Newport, Shropshire Newport is a market town and Civil parishes in Shropshire, civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north-east of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 Ce ...

, England. 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 current building replaced an earlier guildhall on the site which is mentioned in a document dated 1252. The southern part of the current building was constructed as a single room, with gable to the road, possibly as a meeting place for the Guild of Newport, in around 1400. The building was built in a typical medieval style with exposed timbers and brick infilling which has been painted white. An intermediate floor was added to the original hall at a later date. Testing of the beams in the roof using

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, ...

suggests that the current roof was added in 1486. The northern part of the building was constructed in a similar architectural style in the late 16th century. The internal beams on the ground floor in this part of the building were decorated with

chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...

antler Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) Family (biology), family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally fo ...

acanthus leaves The acanthus () is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration in the architectural tradition emanating from Greece and Rome. Architecture In architecture, an ornament may be carved into stone or wood to resemble ...

and

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...

s with the last of these being associated with

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...

. The two buildings were unified externally as a single building with a continuous roof-line in the early 19th century. A beam visible on the front elevation of the building, with the name "Wm Gregari" and dated 1615, was not a feature of the original building and was probably taken from a local public house and inserted to add an additional air of authenticity in the late 19th century. On 13 June 1991, the building was acquired by the Boughey Trust, a trust corporation established by Lady Boughey in memory of her late husband, Sir Thomas Fletcher Fenton Boughey, 4th Baronet who died on 30 August 1906. The Boughey Trust made the guildhall available, rent-free, to Newport Town Council who restored it with the support of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

and it was officially re-opened to the public by

Algernon Heber-Percy Sir Algernon Eustace Hugh Heber-Percy, KCVO (born 2 January 1944) is a British landowner, farmer and public official. Heber-Percy was born in 1944, to Daphne Parker Bowles and the army officer Brigadier Algernon George William Heber-Percy (1904� ...

, Vice-Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, on 25 March 1995. In spring 2019 improvement works were carried out involving a new boiler and new carpets, paintwork and lighting. The ground floor of the southern section of the building is used as a council information centre while the ground floor of the northern section is used as a tea room. Meetings of the Town Council are normally held in the council chamber on the first floor of the building. The council chamber is also used for weddings and civic ceremonies.

References

{{reflist Grade II* listed buildings in Shropshire City and town halls in Shropshire Buildings and structures in Newport, Shropshire Timber framed buildings in England Buildings and structures completed in 1400 Government buildings completed in the 15th century

History

See also

References