These photographs show the only surviving remains of a late 13th Century Franciscan friary that once dominated Priory Park.
- 1269 – 1282 A Franciscan Friary is constructed in Priory Park. Believed to have been the chancel of the friary, it contained the high alter and would only have been used by the resident Greyfriars who remained in Priory Park for more than two centuries until the dissolution of monasteries in the 16th Century.
- 1538 The friary was closed under the reign of King Henry VIII. With the exception of the chancel, all buildings belonging to the friary were demolished. The site was given to the Mayor of Chichester.
- 1541 The City Corporation buys the chancel from the Mayor of Chichester. The building is used as law courts and the Town Hall, or Guildhall. During this time some famous trials were held here including the trial of the Hawkhurst gang of smugglers in 1749 and the trial of the poet & artist William Blake in 1804.
- 1850 The building stops being used as a Guildhall and is used by the Sussex Rifle Volunteers as an Armoury and Drill Hall.
- 1947 The Guildhall becomes Chichester’s first museum site and is used to display historic artefacts for the people of Chichester.
- 2007 – 2009 The Guildhall undergoes a major repairs programme and becomes a hire venue for community events.
- 2015 The Guildhall is granted a license to host civil ceremonies and becomes a wedding venue for the first time in its history.
The building has had quite a history, Cherie – how good it would be to time travel and drop in!
It would be lovely to see the building intact.
I have grown to love the guildhalls of England, Cherry. This one is splendid.
Seeing them is like stepping back in time.
This is another wonderful place you visited, Cherry. I like what Lisl says, I often have that feeling, go back a few hundred years and see how it was.
Some of the living history sites try to transport us back in time. They are good for children to visualise how it might have been.
A fine building which has been renamed several times, distancing it from its builders, the Catholic Friars. High time it’s name was restored.
It was home to the Grey Friars. At least the park in which it is situated still retains the name ‘Priory Park’. There is an information board in front of the building that lists the history of the building with an artist’s impression of how it would have looked.
It was shut when I was there, so I didn’t get to see what was inside the hall.
Saw some wedding photos taken inside the hall on the information board though.
Have you been to Peterborough yet?
Their guildhall is rather posh, overlooking a huge square and the cathedral.
It is usually shut but the Novium do hold open days.
No I haven’t been to Peterborough yet.
Then you should visit Peterborough this year
Their cathedral is rather impressive.
What a beautiful place and lovely architecture.
It is lovely