The Yelde Hall is a public facility in the Market Place, in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. The building, which was the meeting place of Chippenham Borough Council, is a Grade I listed building.[1]
| The Yelde Hall | |
|---|---|
 The Yelde Hall | |
| Location | Market Place, Chippenham |
| Coordinates | 51°27′29″N 2°06′50″W / 51.45804°N 2.11387°W |
| Built | 1450 |
| Architectural style(s) | Medieval style |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | The Yelde Hall and the Council Chamber |
| Designated | 25 April 1950 |
| Reference no. | 1267996 |
  Shown in Wiltshire | |
History edit
The hall was built in around 1450.[2] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage facing onto the Market Place with the right hand section projected forward; the right hand section, which consisted of two bays, featured a short flight of steps leading up to a doorway in the left bay with a horizontal window above the doorway and two small gables above that.[1] The left hand gable contained a carving of the town arms with the inscription "JS 1776": the initials refer to John Scott who was the bailiff at that time.[2] The right hand gable at one time contained a clock which was taken down in 1851.[2]
The building was originally used as a jail (in the cellar),[3] as a courtroom (on the ground floor) and as a council chamber (upstairs).[1] The Chippenham Savings Bank operated an office in the building on Saturday mornings from 1822.[2]
Following the relocation of the town council and burgess to Chippenham Town Hall in 1834,[4][5] the building became the drill hall for the Chippenham Volunteer Rifle Corps in 1846.[2] The unit evolved to become B Company, 2nd Volunteer Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment in 1881 and B Company, 4th Battalion, the Duke of Edinburgh's Wiltshire Regiment in 1908.[6][7] The regiment vacated the building when it relocated to the Little Ivy in 1911.[2] However, the building was also used as the headquarters of the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry at this time,[6][8] and continued to be a yeomanry drill hall until the yeomanry moved its headquarters to Trowbridge in 1920.[8]
The Fire Brigade used the east end of the building from 1870 and then almost the whole building from 1911 to 1945.[2] After some restoration work in the 1950s, the building served as the Chippenham Museum from October 1963 until it relocated to the Market Place in 1999.[2]
Following a refurbishment, the building then became the North Wiltshire Tourist Information Centre in March 2003[9] although that concern relocated to a unit adjacent to the town hall in February 2012.[10] It underwent a further refurbishment in March 2012 and then re-opened to the public as an extension of the Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre in April 2012.[11]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b c Historic England. "The Yelde Hall and the Council Chamber (1267996)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "History of the Yelde Hall". Chippenham Council. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ "Chippenham's Medieval Hall". Prison History. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "The many lives of Chippenham Town Hall" (PDF). Wiltshire Life. 1 April 2019. p. 29. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Chippenham Timeline". Wiltshire Council.
- ^ a b "Chippenham". The Drill Hall Project. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ "2nd Wiltshire Rifle Volunteer Corps". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ a b "The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (Prince of Wales's Own)". Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Chippenham Town Council (1989). Emma King (ed.). The Town Guide of Chippenham, Wiltshire. London: EJ Burrow.
- ^ "Chippenham tourist centre to relocate". Gazette and Herald. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Historic Chippenham hall to re-open". Gazette and Herald. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2017.