York Guildhall


York Guildhall is a municipal building located behind York's Mansion House. It is a Grade I listed building.

History

The building was constructed as a meeting place for the City's guilds between 1449 and 1459.
Richard III was entertained in the building in 1483 and it was the venue for the trial of Margaret Clitherow, a catholic martyr, in 1586. It was also the place where a ransom of £200,000 was counted before being given to the Scots in payment for the release of Charles I in 1647 during the English Civil War and Prince Albert, the Prince Consort to Queen Victoria was a guest of honour at a Royal banquet in the building in October 1850.
In 1811 a building, designed by Peter Atkinson the younger as a council chamber, was erected to the south of the original hall. Then in 1891, another building, designed by Enoch Mawbey, the city surveyor, accommodating a larger council chamber, was built to the north of the original hall. The council chamber was decorated by Kendal, Milne and Co in the 1890s.
The interior of the original building was destroyed during a Baedeker air raid in 1942 and, following rebuilding after the war and the creation of a new stained glass window, the building was re-opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1960.
Throughout the 20th century meetings of the City of York Council were held in the Guildhall; however, in Autumn 2017, when a programme of restoration work began at the Guildhall, temporary arrangements were put in place for the council to meet in the Citadel on Gillygate.