The Guildhall Museum

The Guildhall has had many uses and lives. The Great Hall itself was built in about 1390 as a meeting place for the Guild of Corpus Christi (a small but powerful group of businessman and gentry). Over the next hundred years the Great Hall was extended and two wings at either end were added.

In 1632 the Town Library was moved into the East Wing of the Guildhall from St Martin' s Church. It is the third oldest public library in the country. The ground floor of the West Wing was also refurbished as the Mayor's Parlour.

With the growth of the town and the expansion of local government functions in the 19th century it became clear that, as a town hall, the Guildhall was far too small.