place

Chichester Guildhall

13th-century church buildings in EnglandBuildings and structures in ChichesterGrade I listed buildings in West SussexScheduled monuments in West SussexTourist attractions in Chichester
Chichester Guildhall 2011
Chichester Guildhall 2011

Chichester Guildhall is a building in Chichester, West Sussex, England. The name is a bit of a misnomer, as the building was constructed as a chancel by the Grey Friars of Chichester, an Order of Franciscans. The Grey Friars received the land, now called Priory Park, in a grant from Richard, Earl of Cornwall, in 1269. It is a scheduled monument.The first record of The Guildhall in Priory Park talks of an ordination held by Archbishop John Peckham, in 1283. This date ties in with the architectural features of the Guildhall. The building is a magnificent example of late 13th-century architecture and is one of the few Franciscan Friaries in England that is still roofed.The building is an aisleless structure, 82 by 31 feet (25.0 by 9.4 m) with a height of 42 feet (13 m). The western wall was a later addition, leading to the belief that some portion on the nave must have at least been begun. This modification to the building was executed so as to allow the chancel arch to remain visible spanning the whole width of the structure. Symmetrical windows separated by buttresses line the northern and southern sides of the building. The windows have simple chamfers on the outside with no further mouldings.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Chichester Guildhall (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Chichester Guildhall
Priory Road, Chichester Chichester

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address External links Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Chichester GuildhallContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.839213 ° E -0.776607 °
placeShow on map

Address

Guildhall

Priory Road
PO19 1LA Chichester, Chichester
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

linkWikiData (Q5096000)
linkOpenStreetMap (56004699)

Chichester Guildhall 2011
Chichester Guildhall 2011
Share experience

Nearby Places

Chichester Castle
Chichester Castle

Chichester Castle stood in the city of the same name in West Sussex (grid reference SU863052). Shortly after the Norman Conquest of England, Roger de Montgomery ordered the construction of a castle at Chichester. The castle at Chichester was one of 11 fortified sites to be established in Sussex before 1100. The Rape of Chichester, a subdivision of Sussex, was administered from the castle and was split off from the larger Rape of Arundel; a Rape was an administrative unit originating in the Saxon era and continued by the Normans. Situated in the north-east corner of Chichester, the castle was protected by the city walls. As it was an urban castle inserted into a pre-existing settlement, buildings were probably cleared to make way for the castle. Chichester Castle was of timber construction; although some timber castles were rebuilt in stone, there is no evidence that this was the case at Chichester.Although the castle was originally built by the Earl of Shrewsbury, the Earls of Sussex owned it in the period 1154–1176, after which it passed into the possession of the Crown. Early in the 13th century, Chichester Castle was used as a court and jail. Chichester and Oxford Castle were two of the earliest urban castles to be used for this purpose, but gradually most urban castles were also used in this way. In 1216, the castle, along with many others in southern England, such as Reigate Castle in Surrey, was captured by the French. This was part of the First Barons' War against King John (reigned 1199–1216). The castle was recaptured by the English in the spring of 1217. In the same year, Henry III ordered the castle's destruction. Between 1222 and 1269, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, gave the site to the order of Greyfriars for their use as the site of a friary. The remains of the motte are still visible in Priory Park, Chichester; the motte is protected as a Scheduled Monument.

Chichester Cross
Chichester Cross

Chichester Cross is an elaborate Perpendicular market cross in the centre of the city of Chichester, West Sussex, standing at the intersection of the four principal streets. It is a Grade I listed building.According to the inscription upon it, this cross was built by Edward Story, Bishop of Chichester from 1477 to 1503, but little is known for certain and the style and ornaments of the building suggest that it may date from the reign of Edward IV. It was built so that the poor people should have somewhere to sell their wares, and as a meeting point. An earlier wooden cross had been erected on the same site by Bishop William Reade (1369–1385). The stone cross was repaired during the reign of Charles II, and at the expense of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond in 1746, and stands to this day.The Market Cross is constructed of Caen stone, one of the most favoured building materials of the age. The cross's form is octangular, having a strong butment at each angle, surmounted with pinnacles. On each of its faces is an entrance through a pointed arch, ornamented with crockets and a finial. Above this, on four of its sides, is a tablet, to commemorate its reparation in the reign of Charles II. Above each tablet is a dial, exhibiting the hour to each of the three principal streets; the fourth being excluded from this advantage by standing at an angle. In the centre is a large circular column, the basement of which forms a seat: into this column is inserted a number of groinings, which, spreading from the centre, form the roof beautifully moulded. The central column appears to continue through the roof, and is supported without by eight flying buttresses, which rest on the several corners of the building. Malmesbury Market Cross in Wiltshire is the other surviving late medieval covered English market cross with a similar form, but rather smaller and simpler.Until the start of the nineteenth century the Cross was used as a market-place; but the increased population of the city requiring a more extensive area for that purpose, a large and convenient market-house was, about the year 1807, erected in the North-street; on the completion of which, it was proposed to take down this Cross, then considered as a nuisance. This was prevented from taking place when some of the members of the corporation purchased several houses on the north side of the Cross in order to widen that part of the street by their demolition.A bust of King Charles I by Hubert Le Sueur was added to the cross in the 1660s. The bust was removed in the 1970s after which it was replaced by a glass fibre replica. In 2019 it was loaned to The Novium museum.