MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS
Common Hall
The first common hall was probably built shortly
before 1250, the last year in which the guild merchant
met in the selds. (fn. 1) It certainly existed by 1337, (fn. 2) when it
lay behind the selds, west of Bridge Street and just
south of Moothall or Commonhall Lane, itself in
existence as a thoroughfare by the 1290s. (fn. 3) Later a
second means of access from Bridge Street was provided a little further south by Pierpoint Lane, which
may have become the main approach. (fn. 4)
Almost certainly the common hall was built as a
meeting place for the guild merchant under the presidency of the mayor. Later, perhaps only after 1300
when the mayor became chief judicial officer, it seems
also to have housed the principal civic court, the
portmote, and to have become known as the moot
hall. (fn. 5) In 1394 the assize of wine and in the mid 15th
century full sessions of the portmote and mayoral
inquests were held there. It also became the location
of civic assemblies: in 1398, for example, the city
treasurers presented their accounts there, and by
1506, and probably long before, it was where civic
elections were held. (fn. 6) It was later remembered as the
setting for 'the pleas of the city, and the courts thereof,
and meetings of the mayor and his brethren'. (fn. 7)
Described as the 'common hall of pleas' in the early
16th century, (fn. 8) it was then a modest two-storeyed
building, of which the principal chamber on the
upper floor was c. 24 ft. long and 18 ft. wide. (fn. 9)
A common hall continued in use on the site until
c. 1510, when the building was converted into a chapel
for the newly founded fraternity and hospital of St.
Ursula. (fn. 10) In 1547, when the fraternity was dissolved, the
chapel reverted to the corporation and was sold to the
mayor-elect. (fn. 11) By 1592 it had become the meeting
house of the Smiths and Cutlers' company, in whose
possession it remained until 1778. It served as a
nonconformist chapel from 1768, was converted into
a dwelling house in 1806, (fn. 12) and was demolished in
1874. (fn. 13)
It is not certain where the mayoral courts were held
in the earlier 16th century. (fn. 14) A building designated the
common hall was in use for sessions of the portmote in
1540, (fn. 15) and the former chapel of St. Nicholas at the
south-west corner of the abbey precinct was perhaps
already being used for that purpose when the corporation leased it from the abbey in 1539. (fn. 16) At all events, in
1546 the Assembly determined to reconstruct the
chapel as a new common hall. The profits of a recent
common bargain of 52 tons of iron were devoted to the
work, and the mayor, an ironmonger, also contributed
towards the cost. (fn. 17) The chapel was converted by the
insertion of a floor, creating an upper chamber for use
as a 'stately senate house' and a ground floor for the
marketing and storage of wholesale goods. (fn. 18) In the
upper chamber were held the meetings of quarter
sessions, the fortnightly sessions of the portmote, and
from 1551 many of the corporation's assemblies. In
1573 the thrice-weekly meetings of the sheriffs' court
were transferred there from the Pentice. (fn. 19)
The new common hall was maintained by a keeper
or clerk, generally a substantial citizen, who delegated
the actual care of the building to an underkeeper. (fn. 20) It
played a varied role in civic life. Foreign merchants
were required to transact business there, and for a
while it housed the King's school and the shambles for
the country butchers. (fn. 21) In the early 17th century it also
functioned as a playhouse. (fn. 22)
After an order of 1660 that the expenses for repair
were to be borne by the keeper, the hall seems to have
been neglected, and by 1686 its rebuilding was being
considered. (fn. 23) In 1687, when it was allegedly 'ruinous
and ready to fall down', the Assembly finally took
action. A new lease was to be obtained from the dean
and chapter, and money paid into the city treasury for
the admission of freemen was to be appropriated to
repair or rebuilding. (fn. 24) In 1692 it was decided to build a
new common hall and a committee was appointed to
prepare plans and estimates. (fn. 25) In 1694 the committee
was authorized to sell the corporation's lease of the old
building and in 1698 business was transferred to the
new Exchange. (fn. 26) Though described as 'in great decay
and unfit for use', the common hall survived and was
thereafter put to various uses, including playhouse,
music hall, cinema, and shop. (fn. 27)
Exchange
The Exchange, also known at first as the new common
hall, was erected between 1695 and 1698 at the
corporation's expense but with contributions from
William III, Peter Shakerley (former governor of the
castle and a Tory M.P. for Chester from 1698), Francis
Gell (projector of a plan to improve the Dee naviga
tion), and the estate of Thomas Cowper of Overleigh
Hall in the southern liberties. It stood on the site of the
old shambles in the wide middle section of Northgate
Street almost opposite Abbey Gate. (fn. 28) The architect is
unknown. (fn. 29) The building, of brick with stone quoins
and elevated on pillars, was adorned in 1712 with a
life-sized statue of Queen Anne 'curiously gilt and
painted' placed over the main entrance in the south
front. (fn. 30) The lower storey formed an open piazza with a
coffee house, initially in the south-west corner, (fn. 31) but
later moved to the north-east corner. (fn. 32) The main
apartments were in the upper storey, which comprised
a fine magnificent room styled the common hall of
pleas', with to the south the portmote court, 'extremely
ornamental, wainscotted with oak and adorned with
figures of carved work', and to the north the sheriffs'
court. (fn. 33) Those apartments later functioned as an assembly or banqueting room, a court room, and a council
chamber. (fn. 34)
Figure 6:
The Exchange, south side, c. 1850
In 1756 the Exchange, which had already been
strengthened by the addition of 'several strong pillars',
was showing signs of collapse. It was secured by enclosing the ground floor to house a row of shops, on which
work continued until 1759, (fn. 35) and in 1801–2 was further
adapted to plans by Thomas Harrison to provide for the
court rooms and offices formerly in the Pentice. (fn. 36) In
disrepair by 1839, it was destroyed by fire in 1862 (Fig.
7); most of the important contents including the city
records and all except two large paintings were, however, saved. (fn. 37) The ruins of the Exchange were cleared
after the fire and its site was taken into an enlarged
Northgate Street. Until the new town hall opened on an
adjoining site in 1869 the council met in the Chester
Savings Bank in Grosvenor Street and its staff were
housed in premises in Lower Bridge Street. (fn. 38)
Pentice
By 1288 the sheriffs held their court in a building called
the Pentice, (fn. 39) known from later evidence to have been a
lean-to attached to the southern side of St. Peter's
church. (fn. 40) In the late Middle Ages the court room was
on the first floor at Row level, above shops which
abutted the church on both south and east sides. By the
1430s there were at least seven shops, (fn. 41) and in the early
16th century at least nine, four facing the High Cross to
the south and five at the southern end of Northgate
Street to the east. (fn. 42) Probably the arrangement was
ancient, since shops are known to have abutted St.
Peter's church from the 1230s. (fn. 43)
By the mid 15th century, as later, the Pentice probably consisted of two parts, the main, southwardfacing structure and a lesser northern section
overlooking Northgate Street. In the 1460s there was
a major reconstruction, probably of the larger southern
range, which was levelled to the foundations and
replaced with a new timber-framed building. (fn. 44) By
then besides being the place where the sheriffs transacted their business, the Pentice was also used by the
mayor, in particular to settle disputes between citizens
and foreign merchants. (fn. 45)
Figure 7:
The Exchange on fire, 1862
In 1497 the northern section was also reconstructed,
and in 1573 there were further changes, comprising the
heightening of the 'inner' and the reduction of the
'lesser' Pentice. (fn. 46) By then the structure had presumably
assumed the form illustrated in the 17th century (Fig. 90,
p. 156): a long timber-framed chamber, perhaps the
inner Pentice, ran for much of the length of the south
side of the church above a projecting undercroft,
apparently built of stone. At the eastern end of the
chamber was a higher building, of at least three storeys,
perhaps the lesser or outer Pentice. At the western end
was the timber-framed church house and rectory house
of St. Peter's. (fn. 47) In the 17th century the Pentice was
divided into three areas: an outer Pentice, 'open in day
time for all persons to come into', a middle Pentice,
'where mayor and aldermen sit', and a further Pentice in
two parts, one 'where the city officers are', the other, the
inner Pentice, 'a place for private consultation'. (fn. 48)
The Pentice apparently continued to be the meeting
place of the sheriffs' court until the mid 16th century. (fn. 49)
After the abandonment of the old common hall c. 1510
it became a more important location for the administration of municipal business, and by the 1530s it was
the main, perhaps only, meeting place of the
Assembly. (fn. 50) With the adoption of St. Nicholas's chapel
as a new common hall the importance of the Pentice
diminished. From 1550 the Assembly often met in the
new building, (fn. 51) and in 1573 the shrieval court was also
transferred there. (fn. 52) Increasingly the Pentice came under
the control of the mayor. By the early 16th century he
paid the salary and supplied the gown of the yeoman of
the Pentice, (fn. 53) and in the late 16th century he was said to
remain there most of the day transacting business.
Besides the mayoral apartment it then included an
adjoining room occupied by the mayor's clerks, in
which judicial business was recorded and recognizances were taken. As later it probably housed the city
records, (fn. 54) and by then too it had become the main
venue for civic banquets. (fn. 55) In the late 16th and the 17th
century it was the scene of other entertainments,
including the 'shott', a drinking ceremony held each
Sunday before the mayor and corporation processed to
the civic service in St. Oswald's church and on other
special occasions. (fn. 56) Gaming also took place there, and
in the earlier 16th century the profits so made contributed significantly to the keeper's salary. (fn. 57)
In 1704 the south side of the Pentice was rebuilt, the
late medieval timber-framing being replaced by a brick
front with a stone balustrade and sash windows. (fn. 58) The
new structure continued to incorporate shops at street
level. (fn. 59) The northern section of the older building still
survived and was used as a repository for the city's
records, charters, and seal. Though no courts held
formal sessions in the Pentice, it was the scene of a
weekly public meeting of the mayor and J.P.s to hear
complaints, make settlements, and redress grievances,
and was also used for meetings of, and public entertainments given by, the magistrates. (fn. 60) Guests included
the lord lieutenant of Ireland, who was feasted there on
several occasions in the earlier 18th century. (fn. 61) After the
rebuilding, however, no public balls were allowed
without a special order of the Assembly. (fn. 62)
In 1781 the Pentice was reduced in size and partly
reconstructed to designs by the local architect Joseph
Turner. The northern or back Pentice was taken down
to permit the widening of the southern end of Northgate Street, and the records kept there were transferred
to a new record room at the west end of the inner
Pentice adjoining the town clerk's office. (fn. 63) In 1800 the
record room was moved to the Exchange, (fn. 64) and in 1803
the rest of the Pentice and St. Peter's rectory house
were taken down to improve Eastgate Street. (fn. 65)
Town Hall
After the Exchange fire of 1862 a competition was
organized for a new town hall; entrants were to submit
designs which were 'substantial and economical' and in
accordance with 'the general features of this ancient
city', costing no more than £16,000. Some thirty
designs were submitted in 1864 and the competition
was won by the Belfast architect W. H. Lynn. (fn. 66)
The site chosen, occupied mainly by inns and alehouses, lay west of the Exchange, bounded by Princess
Street to the north, the Saracen's Head Inn to the
south, and the road to the new market hall to the rear. (fn. 67)
Work began in 1865 and lasted some four years,
prolonged by the increasingly strained relations
between corporation and architect. The principal difficulty was that Lynn's scheme cost more than £16,000,
and although the committee grudgingly accepted a
tender of £21,610, it continued to consider various
modifications. Nevertheless, in 1869 the new town hall
was completed. Built of red and grey sandstone in a
style best described as Venetian Gothic, its main facade
was symmetrical, of ten bays with a central tower. The
interior included a large assembly room, a court room
for the city quarter sessions, and on the first floor,
reached by a fine staircase rising in an apse, a council
chamber, mayoral suite, and committee room. The
basement was occupied by police offices, prison cells,
and kitchens. By 1881 the principal floor also included
a muniment room. (fn. 68)
Upon the completion of the town hall the corporation purchased the old butter market and, after some
argument, the then vacant and derelict Market and
Saracen Inns to the south of the town hall. The butter
market was soon demolished to provide a dignified
open space in front of the new building, but the inns
did not finally disappear until 1882 when they were
replaced by an extension, adorned with a suitable
frontage by Lynn, linking market and town halls. (fn. 69)
The council chamber was rebuilt to designs by T. M.
Lockwood in 1897 after it had been seriously damaged
by fire. (fn. 70) In 1967, with the demolition of the market hall
and extension, there were considerable changes. The city
police removed to new buildings and part of their
premises was used to house the city's record office,
thereby moved into close proximity to the strongroom
constructed in the basement in 1935. (fn. 71) In 1973 most
council departments moved to new offices in the
Forum, recently built on the site of the market hall. (fn. 72)
Figure 8:
Town Hall, c. 1880
In 1995 the furnishings included eight late 16thcentury painted boards depicting the Norman earls
and Edric Sylvestris (Eadric the wild), supposed
ancestor of the Sylvesters of Storeton in Wirral.
Formerly in the possession of the Stanleys of
Hooton, they were purchased by Sir Thomas Gibbons
Frost and presented by him to the city during his
mayoralty in 1883. (fn. 73) The civic paintings also included
a Diana by the 17th-century Dutch artist Jan van
Oost, and portraits of George III, several members of
the Grosvenor family (two by Benjamin West), and
various recorders and mayors of the city. The
mayoress's parlour contained nine portraits of the
founders of local charities painted on wainscotting
rescued from the council chamber of the Exchange. (fn. 74)
The regalia included a civic sword dating from the
15th century, a mace given by Charles Stanley, earl of
Derby, during his mayoralty (1668–9), and a silver oar
dating from 1719–20, symbolizing the mayor's authority as admiral of the Dee. The corporation began
to accumulate silver plate in the early 16th century, its
first acquisition being a goblet given by Hugh Aldersey, mayor 1528–9. In 1602, when a detailed inventory was drawn up, it possessed c. 28 items. By the
outbreak of the Civil War there were considerably
more. With the exception of the sword, however, all
the ancient plate disappeared during the siege of
Chester and the Interregnum. The corporation started
to acquire plate again in the 1670s, and in 1995
possessed a fine collection dating from the late 17th
century to the 20th. (fn. 75)
Figure 9:
High Cross
Crosses
The High Cross, a focal point of the city markets and
set up by the later 14th century, stood next to the
entrance to St. Peter's church on a square pedestal with
three or four steps. A new cross was made in 1476 and
comprised an octagonal pillar surmounted by a head
carved with images, 'tabernacle work', and a crucifix.
Freshly gilded in 1603, it was pulled down after the fall
of Chester in 1646. (fn. 76) After long remaining in private
hands the surviving fragments from the head and base
were erected with a new shaft in the Roman Garden
near the Newgate in 1949 and restored to their original
location at the Cross in 1975. (fn. 77)
Crosses were set up in other public spaces within the
liberties. At Hough Green there was a hexagonal pillar
surmounted by images of the Crucifixion and Virgin
and Child, destroyed in 1646. A stone cross by a public
way outside the Northgate was pulled down in 1584.
Other crosses stood on the Roodee and by the road
from the Bars to Spital Boughton, as well as in various
ecclesiastical precincts. (fn. 78)