The Rochester Guildhall is an historic building located in the High Street in Rochester,

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. 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 ...

History

The first guildhall in Rochester was located further south along the High Street on a site where the Clock House is now situated. The current building, the second guildhall, was constructed in 1697. The design for the main frontage involved four bays: the ground floor was left open, apart from some paired

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but wit ...

columns, to allow markets to be held; the first floor was designed with four windows with white plaques in the middle commemorating the completion of the building in 1697 and also the financial contribution made by Sir Stafford Fairborne. At roof level a large round-headed

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

was erected above which was a bell-turret was placed. A

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

in the form of an 18th-century warship was added in 1780. Wings were added on the right in 1838 and on the left in 1893. Internally, the principal room was the courtroom which, in time, was also used as a council chamber. The magistrates' bench was curved so that attention was focussed on all the members of the bench and not just the chief magistrate. Both the council chamber and the staircase have magnificent plaster ceilings, which were given in 1695 by Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, who was the Member of Parliament for the City of Rochester at the time. The council chamber featured in the novel

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

published in 1861. In the 1930s, in anticipation of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a civil defence headquarters was established in the basement of the building. For much of the 20th century, the council chamber was the meeting place of the City of Rochester but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Borough of Medway was formed in 1974. The guildhall became the home of the Guildhall Museum in 1979.2000 Great Days Out (1998) AA (UK)

The Guildhall Museum

The museum was originally established at Eastgate House, further south along the High Street, to commemorate

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the Diamond jubilee, 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to cel ...

in 1897. The collection includes artefacts associated with Rochester from prehistoric times to the present day. Works of art in the museum include a painting by Hendrik Frans van Lint depicting a classical Italian landscape, a portrait of Sir Cloudesley Shovell by

Michael Dahl Michael Dahl ( 1659–1743) was a Swedish portrait painter who lived and worked in England most of his career and died there. He was one of the most internationally known Swedish painters of his time. He painted portraits of many aristocrats and ...

and a portrait of Sir Stafford Fairborne by

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723) was a German-born British painter. The leading Portrait painting, portraitist in England during the late Stuart period, Stuart and early Georgian eras ...

References

External links

Museum website
(archived 22 March 2017) {{Great Expectations Grade I listed buildings in Kent Museums in Medway History museums in Kent Local museums in Kent Great Expectations City and town halls in Kent Buildings and structures completed in 1697 Government buildings completed in the 17th century

History

The Guildhall Museum

See also

References

External links