Newport Guildhall

Coordinates: 52°46′02″N 2°22′41″W / 52.7671°N 2.3780°W / 52.7671; -2.3780

The Guildhall
Newportguildhall2.jpg
Alternative names	Newport Town Hall
General information
Type	timber framed
Architectural style	Anglo-Saxon
Location	Newport, Shropshire
Address	1 High street
Current tenants	Newport Town Council
Construction started	1485
Completed	1486
Renovation cost	£1m
Design and construction
Owner	Boughey Trust
Renovating team
Renovating firm	William Onions Construction Ltd
Other designers	Arroll & Snell Architects

Newport Guildhall is a large timber-framed Guildhall (assembly building) in Newport, Shropshire. It is one of the few timber-framed buildings that remain in the town after a disastrous fire in 1666.

Newport Guildhall at Christmas

Uses

The site has been used for administration purposes since Anglo-Saxon times, when the area was known as the Bodlac or Place of Edicts. Later it was known as the Moot and then the Common Hall and it is now the home of the Newport town council. Space in the building has seen varied uses through the years, including inns, small shops, and including a current use as a wedding chamber (in the upper level).

Structure

The building was originally two separate structures sitting side-by-side. A 1557 remodel added a ground-level causeway to connect the two structures.

The building timbers have been dated by dendrochronology to 1486 and are particularly fine. The wind braces are pierced and cusped and form quatrefoils.
During renovations in 1911 the renovators discovered various Anglo-Saxon designs and artifacts.
The Guildhall, 1 & 3 High Street, is a Grade II* listed building.
The building is owned by Boughey Trust and leased to the Town Council for a peppercorn rent.
The restored building was officially opened by Algernon Heber-Percy Esq on 25 March 1995, following its restoration by the Newport Town Council and the English Heritage. Architects Arroll & Snell of Shropshire provided the restoration design; the work was performed by William Onions Construction Ltd.

External links

• Geograph.org.uk