Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Location

Full description

November 1977. Site visit.
Land for building purchased in 1406. Brick. Large 16th century window to street. Side windows also of this date. Side walls bulge and are supported by buttresses added in the restoration as theatre in 1951. 17th century brick undercroft. Roof has lost its tiebeams and hammerbeams. Warehouses behind, said to be 16th-17th century, include stone blocks in south wall which could be much older.
E. Rose (NAU), 2 November 1977.

However the official guide states that the buttresses were added about 1500 when roof began to spread (perhaps since renewed) and five king-post trusses were added to roof to tie it in. Vaulting of original undercroft removed then replaced in 17th century as wine cellar. Building used as magazine in Civil War and as theatre in 18th century.
See (S1) in file for account of warehouses (not scheduled) behind hall being used as ice-houses in 1913.
(S2) dates the building to about 1410 but (S3) dates it to 1435 to 1450 on account of scissor brace roof.
E. Rose (NAU).

1996. Dendochronological Survey.
Dendrochronological and visual analysis of roof timbers dated scissor truss roof to 1397 to 1430; kingpost timbers (stored in building at rear) were undatable. Reference to hammerbeams above may be a mistake. Floor beams dated 1417 to 1457.
See report (S4) for further details. This survey is also noted in (S8).
E. Rose (NLA), 25 April 1997.

1996. Rectified Photographic Survey.
Survey and further analysis carried by NAU prior to repointing.
Work for National Trust who presently retain the archive.
This work is noted in (S9).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 21 March 2017.

Source [1] however dates the warehouses at rear to after 1814 when a wing of warehouses behind 27 King Street was demolished.
E. Rose (NLA), 28 May 1998.

See file for further details.
Descheduled 1997.

Revised listed building description 1993, (S5), takes a somewhat different view than the above sources; it confirms that the buttresses were much rebuilt in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries but says original undercroft had a flat wooden ceiling. The three barns/warehouses at rear are dated to the 15th and 16th centuries, much altered, as originally suggested above and certainly not post 1814. Said to be largest surviving medieval guildhall in England.
Hall Grade I, barns Grade II.
E. Rose (NLA), 11 March 1999.

An illustration in (S6), though somewhat idealised, confirms the arches through the buttresses were there in 1861.
E. Rose (NLA), 13 November 2001.

February 2004. Field Observation.
Mechanical excavator fell through courtyard at TF 6158 2022 just to west of detached outbuilding constructed of English bond brickwork with diagonal skintlings and open diamond mullioned window, probably 17th century warehouse, later altered.
Hole examined by E. Rose (NLA). Barrel vaulted chamber, proved to be that into which a traction engine fell c.1977 and resulting hole filled with cement, before that it extended up to end of above described building. Remaining section 3.69m east to west, width north to south 1.60m. Former rectangular hole in vault 1.19m long infilled carefully with brick vaulting around manhole. Height min. 600mm but rubble obscures base. Inner surface cemented. Original bricks seem 18th to early 19th century. Scapula and tibia found, apparently animal. Set just south of traces of wall and floor; another wall footing discovered to south. Probably a cesspit formerly under a building, compare with examples at Southrepps Hall and The Orchards, Aylsham.
E. Rose (NLA), 16 February 2004.

See (S7) in file giving outline of history of the acquisition by the guild and pointing out that the arches in the buttresses were to cross a pre-existing boundary ditch of flowing water.
E. Rose (NLA), 26 October 2004.

E. Rose (above) suggests that (S2) proposed a construction date of 1410. However, (S2) in fact notes that construction began in 1406. She notes this as an example of building on a 'narrow plan' block at the beginning of the 15th century. The two-storeyed hall was built with its gable end facing the street and laid out so that narrow passageways were left down both sides of the building. These were not to provide access to the quay at the rear, but to allow space for the large brick buttresses used to support the roof, and to provide light-wells on either side of the hall. The main room was on the first floor above an undercroft. The hall itself was not divided, and cooking took place in a separate kitchen mentioned in descriptions of the Guild's property in 1561. However, by 1602 a chimney had been inserted into the north wall. The roof was scissor braced but without supporting tie beams since the walls were supported from outside by huge brick buttresses. Between the buttresses were large windows with four-centred arch heads and there was a further large window in the east gable. Access to the hall on the first floor must have been via an internal stair in the north-east corner. The low undercroft has been partially rebuilt with a brick barrel-vaulted ceiling but originally had a timber ceiling throughout. It seems most likely that the undercroft, which had no windows, was used as a warehouse for the gild. The hall is built in brown brick throughout, with carved stone door and window frames.
When the gilds were suppressed in King's Lynn in 1547 it was acquired by the Corporation and was described in documentary sources as a hall with a cellar, pantry and kitchen annexed and had numerous outbuildings. It was used occasionally by Elizabethan travelling players and in 1588 was leased by George Waldon to start a school for learning French. It later became a sailmaker's workshop, and in 1653 a merchant's exchange. When the new Exchange (later the Customs House (NHER 5479)) the hall became ruinous. In the 18th century it was revived as a theatre.
See (S2) for further details and reconstruction drawing.
(S10) notes that the success of the Guildhall as a playhouse led to a modern theatre being built in St James' Street and the Guildhall reverted to use as a warehouse when it was sold in 1814. When his estate was bought by the Lynn merchant family of Everard in 1826, the Guildhall became a wool warehouse. By 1945 the building was again derelict. It was purchased by Alexander Penrose and given to the National Trust. Following a programme of renovation it was opened as a theatre and arts centre in 1951. The adjoining former warehouses to the west were converted to galleries in 1963 by Lady Fermoy (lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother) as a memorial to her late husband, Lord Fermoy, formerly mayor of King’s Lynn and its MP. The Arts Centre ceased operation in 2015 and the building is currently unused and in need of renovation.
(S10) describes the building, measuring 32.6m (107 feet) by 8.8m (29 feet), as 'the largest surviving medieval guildhall in the country'.
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 11 February 2020.

Monument Types

• GUILDHALL (Medieval to 16th Century - 1406 AD to 1548 AD)
• UNDERCROFT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1406 AD to 1900 AD)
• WAREHOUSE (Medieval to 16th Century - 1406 AD to 1548 AD)
• WATER GATE (Medieval to 16th Century - 1406 AD? to 1539 AD?)
• THEATRE (16th Century - 1548 AD? to 1588 AD?)
• SAILMAKING WORKS (16th Century to 17th Century - 1588 AD? to 1653 AD?)
• SCHOOL (16th Century - 1588 AD to 1588 AD)
• MAGAZINE (17th Century - 1642 AD to 1651 AD)
• EXCHANGE (17th Century - 1653 AD to 1699 AD?)
• THEATRE (18th Century - 1701 AD? to 1800 AD?)
• WAREHOUSE (19th Century to Early 20th Century - 1814 AD to 1920 AD)
• ICEHOUSE (Early 20th Century - 1913 AD to 1913 AD)
• ARTS CENTRE (Mid 20th Century to 21st Century - 1951 AD to 2015 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status

• Listed Building
• Listed Building
• Listed Building
• Listed Building

Sources and further reading

Related records - none

Find out more...

• King's Lynn, St George's Guildhall (Places to Visit)
• Parish Summary: King's Lynn (Parish Summary)