Shrewsbury Drapers Guild
Contents
The Drapers' Hall
10 St. Mary's Place,
Shrewsbury
SY1 1DZ
Charity No's: 213372 233903
The Hall
Click image (left) to download a PDF plan and section of the Hall and detail or carved decoration.
The first ‘hall’ or meeting place for the guild is not known, but in 1485 a new guildhall was built close to St Mary’s Church and the almshouses, at a cost of £ 9-15d-6d. Almost a century later, in 1576, the heyday of the Drapers’ prosperity, the present Hall was built on the same site in the old commercial centre of the town. This prime site is on the level summit of the hill, within the loop of the River Severn, and is mid-way between the English Bridge and the Welsh Bridge. The Hall is a modest-sized timber-framed building. Although the present façade is black and white, the original would probably have been lime-washed over in red ochre.
Right: The entrance hall and staircase. The centre door leads to the cellar
Even after more than four centuries the guildhall presents essentially the same appearance and serves the same purpose. Documents in the archives of the Drapers Company record details of the building, the materials used and the manufacture and cost of its furnishings. The Hall was built in two main phases. The first phase, in 1576, consisted of the meeting room with the ‘great chamber’ above displaying the ornamented central roof truss; to the rear of the meeting room was a service area with a kitchen beyond and garderobe above. The second phase, started in 1580, consisted of a three-storey block, with the entrance passage leading past a porter’s lodge to a courtyard and the main door. On the upper floors were chambers with a gable end facing the street. Even as late as 1586 the extension was still not properly finished.
Above-left: The fron gable of the Hall, showing the carved bargeboards
Above-right: The projecting window of the 1580 extension. Note the mouldings, quatrefoil carvings and cable-moulded pilasters