Site of medieval guildhall at Newbiggen Street (EHER 1407)

The site of a medieval guildhall. The building was later used as a school and a workhouse. It was still standing in 1768.

Monument description derived from merging EHER 1407 and 1408. Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Guildhall (NR) (Site of). <1> The Guildhall was still standing about 1768, situated near the vicarage. It probably belonged originally to the Guild of St John the Baptist but was used by other religious guilds. After the suppression it was used for weddings. In 1562 it was converted to a school and in 1711 a parish workhouse. <2> <3> May 1975. Field visit. No trace and no local information. The Tithe Map shows no structure here. <4> 1999. Assessment report. The Guild Hall of the Fraternity of St John the Baptist stood at least until 1748 near the Vicarage in Newbiggin Street. The guild itself had been suppressed during the Reformation, and the guildhall used for public gatherings until 1562 when it was taken over by the school. The school moved out in 1711 and the hall became the parish workhouse. The guildhall survives as the northernmost tenement to the south of the Vicarage on Newbiggen Street. It deserves to be properly surveyed and recorded. What survives of this building is the front part and there was an earlier rear part, now gone. The front portion contains large arched openings (now filled in), similar to the open ground floor plan of the Town Street guildhall. <5>