The words ‘God Save The King 1769 are embellished on the side of Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall.

The Hall was built in the reign of Charles I and throughout its chequered history has seen calamitous events including being extensively damaged from a gunpowder explosion in 1643.  Just over a century later the Hall was actually pulled down but re-built the following year.

In 1863 major alterations resulted in a Hall very much as you see it today.  Ill fate dogged it again in 1946 when fire, started from a cigarette, completely gutted the beautifully proportioned Ballroom, when a valuable painting by Gainsborough of David Garrick was destroyed.