On my last post, The Camel Parade, I said that that was the last report for a while as I’ve posted everything for my outings in 2017. Well I lied. 🙂 Not so much lied really, as completely overlooked mine and Sophies day out to see the Guildhall in Newcastle.  Usually you are not allowed in the building, but there are Heritage Open days where you can get a guided tour of it, and Sophie booked us to go on one.

The History Bit

The building was designed by Robert Trollope and completed in 1655. Trollope was a 17th-century English architect, born in Yorkshire, who worked mainly in Northumberland and Durham. A propos of nothing, he was buried in St Mary’s church Gateshead where he’d designed and built his own monument with statue of himself and inscription that reads
“Here lies Robert Trollop

Who made yon stones roll up

When death took his soul up

His body filled this hole up”.

More Pam Ayres than Wordsworth, but he lives on in his magnificent buildings.

The frontage of the building was rebuilt to designs by William Newton and David Stephenson in 1794. The east end of the building is an extension designed by John Dobson and completed in 1823.

So on with the pictures!

In the stairwell on the way up to the courtrooms

The statue was placed originally placed at the North End of the Tyne Bridge, on the restoration of Charles II to the throne.  It had the motto Adventus Regis solemn gregis. i.e the coming of the king is the comfort of his people.On 15th June 1771 it was moved and placed in a niche on the side of the Exchange (this is what the Guildhall was known as back then).  It was finally moved to where it is now in 1794.  I got this information from a book published in 1826 by John Sykes (bookseller of Newcastle), and the full fascinating story can be found HERE 

The courtroom

In 1649 15 people were hanged on the Town Moor for the crime of Witchcraft, they were tried here.

The Merchant Adventurers Hall was quite something..