The Guildhall in Lichfield has been part of Lichfield's City government for 600 years. In forme times it had been a meeting place of the Corporation, but also at various times a court, a prison, police station, theatre and fire station.

The Guildhall takes its name from the ancient Guild of St Mary and St John the Baptist. The first Guildhall may have been on this site in 1387, when Richard II had confirmed the incorporation of the Guild, even though it had existed for many years.

The old prison had existed round the back since 1553.

Major rebuilding took place in 1707 and 1741, but the building was so ruinous it could of fell down.

By 1844 the Conduit Lands Trust promised to put the Guildhall right "once and for all".

In 1846 a gothic frontage was built, with the stained glass window transfered from Lichfield Cathedral in 1891.

These day the Guildhall is used for civic events and Council meetings.

The Guildhall, Lichfield

LICHFIELD

SK1109SE BORE STREET 1094-1/8/62 (South East side) 06/03/70 The Guildhall

GV II

Guildhall. Parts probably C16 or C17 but extensively rebuilt c1707 and extended to rear 1742; early C19 alterations; hall rebuilt 1846-8, by Joseph Potter Jnr of Lichfield. Brick with ashlar facade; brick rear wing; tile roofs. Right-angle plan with earlier rear wing. EXTERIOR: Hall in Gothic style: 2 storeys. Offset plinth, cornice over ground floor; 1st floor offset buttresses and sill course, coped gable. 2 pointed-arch entrances, that to left has triple-chamfered continuous moulding and hood to heavy door with strap hinges; that to right has hood and paired half-glazed doors with studs and strap hinges. 1st floor window has 5-light plate tracery with hood and relief flower motifs, plain blind roundel above. Stair wing to left has offset ground floor and coped parapet; 1st floor has 2-light single-chamfered plate tracery window. Plaque below window commemorates Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra and is flanked by their busts. Returns have 2-light 1st floor windows with ashlar plate tracery. Rear wing of various dates, part to rear with rubble base and early brickwork over, incorporating blocked C16 window of 3 triangular-headed lights with brick mullions; C18 and C19 brickwork above; varied fenestration; left return has 3 sashed windows to 1st floor. INTERIOR: Passage with iron grille with gate and cells to left; hall has hammerbeam roof and panelling; arch to south has glazed infill over trefoil-headed arcading and benches used by quarter sessions; fireplace has segmental-pointed arch and C16 cast-iron fireback with Royal arms; 1811 stained glass to north window taken from north transept of Cathedral in 1891, figures of founders and patrons of the Cathedral and 1891 figure of Queen Victoria. Rear staircase has simple turned balusters, square newels and moulded handrail. c1710 cells to rear range have barrel vaults, segmental-headed entrances with original doors and shuttered and barred windows, benches and latrines; outer entrance and mullioned window now in later infill wing. HISTORY: The hall was used by the Guild of St Mary and St John the Baptist until its dissolution, and by the Corporation from 1548.