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The Guildhall York is a municipal building located in St Martins Courtyard, Coney Street, in York. Located behind the Mansion House, it is a Grade I listed building.[1]
| York Guildhall | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The Guildhall facing the River Ouse | |
| Location | York, North Yorkshire |
| Coordinates | 53.95963°N 1.08563°W |
| Built | 1459 |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Designated | 14 June 1954 |
| Reference no. | 1257929 |
.svg)  Location of York Guildhall in North Yorkshire | |
The building was constructed as a meeting place for the City's guilds between 1449 and 1459.[1]
King Richard III was entertained in the building in 1483,[2] and the Guildhall was the venue for the trial of St Margaret Clitherow, a Catholic martyr, in 1586.[3] It was also the place where a ransom of £200,000 was counted before being given to the Scots in payment for the release of Charles I in 1647 during the English Civil War,[3] and where Prince Albert, the Prince Consort to Queen Victoria was a guest of honour at a royal banquet in the building in October 1850.[4] At the north end of the Guildhall was a stained glass window painted by Henry Gyles in about 1682.[5]
In 1811 a building, designed by Peter Atkinson the younger as a council chamber, was erected to the south of the original hall (this is now known as "the Atkinson Room").[6] Then in 1891, another building, designed by Enoch Mawbey, the city surveyor, accommodating a larger council chamber, was built to the north of the original hall (this building is now known as "the Municipal Offices").[6][7] The new council chamber was decorated by Kendal, Milne and Co in the 1890s.[8]
The interior of the original building, including the stained glass window, was destroyed during a Baedeker raid in 1942.[3] After the war the Guildhall was rebuilt and a new stained glass window, depicting five aspects of the city's history (architecture, war, civic affairs, commercial trade and religious education), was designed and installed by Harry Harvey of York.[9] The complex was re-opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1960.[10]
Throughout the 20th century meetings of the City of York Council were held in the Guildhall;[11] however, in Autumn 2017, when a programme of restoration work began at the Guildhall, temporary arrangements were put in place for the council to meet in the former Salvation Army Citadel on Gillygate.[12] The renovation, which cost £21 million and was carried out to remedy serious structural issues, was completed in 2022 and the building was subsequently leased to the University of York, as a centre for start up businesses.[13]
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