The Guildhall, Thaxted (EHER 1398)

Thaxted Guildhall was built between 1390 and 1410 for the Guild of Cutlers. The three storey building was altered and restored in the late 17th and early 18th century, again about 1910 and in 1978. The building was equipped for use as a school and housed the grammar school until 1878. Timber framed with plaster and a plain tile roof. The building is roughly square, the ground floor, built over a sizeable cellar, forms an open sided, flagged 'market' house, at the back of which is the staircase and lock up. The cellar still has its original clay floor, which was bound with lime to give a hard durable finish. Above this is a thin clay floor level was added probably about 1700, and then a timber boarded floor at some time between that date and 1910. Each of these levels is now below a layer of remains from the post 1900 repairs. The walls of the cellar are of flint and are built directly on top of the original prepared floor. Directly over two thirds of the cellar, is the paved area at street level. Listed.

Monument description derived from merging EHER 1398, 1399, and 25875. Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Thaxted Guildhall, situated at the head of Town Street 100 yards south-east of the church, was built in the late 15th century for the Guild of Cutlers, and is one of the few remaining medieval Guildhalls. It was restored and re-roofed in the early 18th and 19th centuries and, in 1952, "had lately been repaired and reconditioned". Grade I. <1> Three-storied, timber-framed and plastered, tiled roofs. Probably built in the 2nd half of the 15th century. Roughly square in plan, ground floor forms an open flagged market-house, upper floors are approached by a stair-case at the back, are divided into rooms, now used as a club and reading room. The two upper storeys project. First floor has original timber-framing, partly restored. Open ground floor has open timber ceiling with heavy cross-beams. Restored early in the 18th century when the present roof was put on. In 1910-1911 the plaster was stripped from the walls, arches were inserted between the uprights of first floor, windows were renewed and the building was generally restored. Many of the posts were renewed on the upper-floors, the braces here are all `modern' On the first floor a small room has 17th century panelling, rest of internal fittings are 18th century or 'modern'. Site Assessment = 'As it is one of the few remaining medieval Guildhalls the building is of great interest'. <2> Ground floor open with arched posts, first floor also arched, between the studs (but done in 20th century restoration). In the best position in the town, at the top end of town street, where it forks. First floor is arched between the studs, done during 20th century restoration. <3> Built between 1390-1410 for the Guild of Cutlers. Frame exposed externally. Ground floor forms open-flagged market house. North corner incorporates the parish cage. Altered and restored in early 18th century, about 1910, 1978. Roof simple two armed crown posts, originally gabled to Town Street. North corner of building incorporates the parish cage. Grade I. <4> 1973. Trial trenching. Trial hole excavated in the cellar-lowest 'man-made' level was the original clay floor of the cellar, presumably dating to 1390-1410. Doesn't post-date the construction of the Guildhall-the cellar was dug first, the floor was laid and the flint retaining walls were built up from the floor. Top layer seemed to consist of remains of rotten timber and building rubbish, apparently related to 1910 restoration. This merged with remains of a timber floor, rotted in places to just a stain. Below the latter-a clay floor level, should be post 1700 from finds. Latter included: a small piece of clay pipe stem, scapula of an ox butchered in the normal, post-medieval manner. Level was thin, fairly crude, acted mainly as binding to layer below. Site Assessment = "Remedial works will have to include for removal of the first two levels (rubbish and timber floor)". <5> April 1975. Field visit. The Guildhall is under major restoration due to be completed by Sept 1975. Outstanding. <6> December 1987. Scheduling. The Guildhall. Scheduled no. 29. <7> 1989. Reconstruction. A reconstruction of Thaxted's famous Guildhall is pictured in Essex Archaeology and History. <8> 1992. Dendrochronological dating. Dendrochronological dating of Thaxted Guildhall. The 2nd floor tie beam, from which the core retained some sapwood provides clear evidence of the likely construction date of the building, that is unless it is thought to be a reused older timber. The north-west post according to the sampling notes probably also ends at the heart/sap transition, since the post appears to have 'waney-edge' surviving at that point, if this is the case a combined felling date for the pair can be calculated of AD 1430-1460. In view of the small number of successfully dated samples and the poor overall quality of timbers additional samples should be considered at some stage to confirm the analysis. <9> 1999. Assessment report. The guildhall in Town Street was constructed in 1450 on ground owned by the Borough since the fourteenth century. It is a three-storeyed, timber-framed and plastered building, roughly square in plan, with a tiled roof. It appears that the 'open' ground floor of the Guild Hall is a covered market space, with stalls rather than permanent shops. The parish cage is incorporated into the north-eastern corner of the ground floor. The first floor, with its arcade-like fringe of shutter windows, is a Market Hall, where market and associated administrative functions took place. Guild business/social events probably took place on the top floor. The upper floors are approached by a staircase at the back. The cellar is contemporary with the guildhall, with a clay floor and flint retaining walls. <10> 2021. Dendrochronological assessment. Thaxted Guildhall is an iconic timber-framed building, in a central position in the town, at the head of the infilled market place in the main street, just below the church. It is a well-known and well-loved building, with exposed timber framing, open at the ground floor, and jettied on both upper floors. It is almost square, built off a massive central post, with two parallel roofs at the second floor. Two timbers, a second floor tie-beam and a ground floor post, have been tree-ring dated to 1430-60, previous estimates of the building’s date ranging between 1380-1520. Timber core dating undertaken in 2020 took cores from 20 timbers and a slice from another timber taken for this study which were analysed along with seven timbers sampled in the early 1990s. A total of 20 dated series were combined into a site master dating to the period AD 1339–1422, with an additional sequence independently dated to AD 1272–1334. <11> See also: <12> - <18>