Description

CHIPPENHAM

ST9273SW MARKET PLACE
930-1/10/136 (North side)
25/04/50 The Yelde Hall and The Council
Chamber
(Formerly Listed as:
MARKET PLACE
(North side)
The Old Town Hall (The Yelde Hall),
The Council Chamber)

GV I

Formerly known as: The Old Fire Station MARKET PLACE.
Town hall. Early C15, re-roofed and renewed 1614. Large panel
timber-framed with irregularly-spaced uprights and various
tension braces on a limestone rubble base with freestone
quoins and dressings, stone slate roof.
PLAN: 5-bay plan with entry to 4-bay open hall with storeyed
end bay.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; one-window range. To the inside-right of
the east facade (front) are 2 small gables, that over the door
has a plaster coat of arms, J.S. and date 1776. To the far
right is an ashlar wall to a small lock-up yard, it has an
arched niche with hoodmould and dog-tooth coping to a cornice.
The north wall is C16 rubblestone replacing original frame to
the ground floor with 2 segmental arched openings below a
horizontal sliding sash window with 15 panes to each sash.
The north rubblestone wall continues round to the west side
for approx 3m with a loophole to the top. The timber-frame
then steps down to the plinth. Windows to the west wall have
been removed.
INTERIOR: 4-bay collar-truss tie-beam hall roof with 2 tiers
of windbraces, similar 5th bay to the north. At the north end,
upstairs, is the former courtroom and council chamber,
including panelling and bailiff's chair. Beneath it was the
blind house or lock-up.
HISTORY: before 1580, when The shambles was built, the hall
had stood alone in the market place. Records exist of a blind
house in the C16 (1563) and accounts for renovating in 1614. A
notable survival of its type, remarkable for the retention of
its large-panelled timber-framing and the 1st-floor council
chamber.
(Chamberlain, Joseph A: Chippenham: Chippenham: 1976-: 31; The
Buildings of England: Pevsner N & Cherry B: Wiltshire: London:
1967-1975: 169).

Listing NGR: ST9218273236

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• The Yelde Hall And The Council Chamber at Wikipedia
• The Yelde Hall And The Council Chamber official website
• Wikidata Q17529812

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)