SNN108723 - Northampton's Medieval Guildhalls

The present Guildhall, an outstanding exmple of neo-gothic architecture constructed in the second half of the nineteenth century, dominates St Giles Square and reminds us forcebly of the still prominent role played by local government in the affairs of the town. But what of earlier Guildhalls? The predecessors of the present one stood at the corner of Abington Street and Wood hill but, although surviving until 1864, it is virtually unrecorded. As we delve back into the obscure recesses of Northampton's past we find physical and political reality of the "Guilhall" as a significant town institution very much shrowded in the mists of time.