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Medieval Guildhall of London
This drawing by reconstruction artist Terry Ball depicts London’s Guildhall as it would have appeared in the 15th century. The Guildhall acted as the seat of civic power in London during the medieval period. In the 15th century, there was a campaign of civic improvements led by London’s mayor Richard Whittington (c. 1354-1423), of which the Guildhall was the centerpiece. The campaign lasted from 1411 to 1450 and saw the expansion of the Guildhall to become the largest secular hall in London. The impressive building contained two courts, one for the Mayor and one for the meeting of the city’s Aldermen, a chapel, and the Guildhall library. The Guildhall acted as a sort of palace for the Mayor, an indicator of his immense power in the city. Second to the king, the Mayor was the most important man in London. The Guildhall acted as a focal point of civic proceedings. During special city holidays, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriffs conducted processions from the Guildhall to St. Paul’s cathedral, then back to the Guildhall. Through public displays such as these, London officials cemented the Guildhall as a place of civic power for the inhabitants of London.
In addition to civic proceedings, the Guildhall served an important economic function. One of the halls in the precinct was used as a market for wool, England’s main export at the time. London’s merchants were keenly aware that centers of trade in cities acted as cultural symbols for foreign merchants. Trading centers on the continent such as Flanders and Bruges had spectacular civic halls, which London merchants would have seen during their travels. Not only did they act as commercial hubs, these halls also demonstrated the wealth and prestige of the entire city. The enormous great hall designed by stone mason John Croxtone was based on the great hall of Westminster palace, built in 1097 by William Rufus and redesigned by Richard II in the late 14th century. The palace was famed for its large, ornate great hall, which boasted a beautiful hammerbeam roof and gothic style windows. The Guildhall’s own gothic architecture reflected the desire of London’s civic leaders to establish the city as a center of European influence.
Stepney Moated Manor
This drawing depicts Stepney Manor as it would have appeared in the 15th century. Built in the east end of the city as one of the residences for the bishop of London, many early records of Stepney shed light on the general management of the building and its grounds. Within the structure of the building, there were separate chambers for the bishop and his clerks connected by an ambulatory (a covered open-air passage), as well as a chapel which was added by 1243. Documents from 1363 detail the tiling of the kitchen, bakery, bishop’s chamber, and an unspecified outside chamber. There are frequent mentions of daubing and plastering the walls of various areas of the building, demonstrating the amount of work and materials required to properly care for such a large home.
Like most manors of the Middle Ages, Stepney was largely self-sufficient. Within the compound were stables, a carriage house, and thatched granges for storing wheat, barley, and rye. The great garden and the smaller kitchen garden provided reeds for thatching other buildings on the property. Records indicate the existence of a dovecot, a structure used to house doves or pigeons, which were an important food source for the land-owning elite during the medieval period. This drawing by Faith Vardy depicts Stepney Manor after it was renovated in the 15th century. The new manor was brick-built with a courtyard and a surrounding moat encircled by brick walls. The entrance to the manor was accessible through the gatehouse called King John’s Tower. In 1597, the manor was purchased by Henry Somerset, fifth Earl of Worcester and renamed Worcester House. During the English Civil War parliament seized the property from the earl. Subsequently, the manor was turned into a Baptist College in the 1830s. After the College moved in the late 19th century, most of the buildings on the property were demolished and there are no visible remains of Stepney Manor in London today.