A brief history of the Yelde Hall
The name Yelde Hall
is an old form of Guidhall, and it is probable that there was an
administrative building of some sort in Chippenham from the time of
the town's founding. The existing building appears to have been in
use at the time of Queen Mary's Charter to the town in May 1554,
since that document referred to 'a certain Hall or House within the
Borough called the Yelde Hall'. An earlier hall may well have
occupied the site, and a small part of the current building is
thought to date back to the early to mid 14th century. The Hall's
position in the Market Place and the Shambles led to it becoming
surrounded by shops and stalls from the later 16th century. The
last of these shops, a hairdresser's and an auctioneer's, were
demolished in 1960.
It is probable that
the Yelde Hall had been a municipal building from the start,
fulfilling a number of official roles within the town, not only as
a meeting place for the bailiff and burgesses but also as a place
for dispensing justice. The Lord of the Manor held his court there,
and the building occasionally hosted the county's quarter sessions.
The room below the council chamber was used as the town lock-up,
for holding drunks overnight and for housing prisoners en route to
the county gaol at Fisherton Anger (Salisbury) or to be tried at
the quarter sessions in other towns. Elections were also held in
the building, with the Town Clerk subsequently publishing lists of
all the electors who voted for each candidate.
As well as dealing
with local administrative and legal matters the town's dignitaries
would have discussed the wider political issues of the day. Thus,
successive bailiffs and burgesses, mayors, aldermen and councillors
would have expressed their opinions on the local impact of national
events. One can imagine the lively debates at the time of the Wars
of the Roses (15th century), and then the reactions to Henry VIII's
Reformation of the Church (16th century). Later, the English Civil
Wars and the Restoration of Charles II, and then the Glorious
Revolution that put William III on the throne in place of James II,
would have provoked individuals into taking sides (17th century).
The actions of the Hanovarian dynasty (18th and 19th centuries)
would have doubtless triggered considerable discussion - especially
the loss of America, and then the Napoleonic Wars. One of the last
decisions the councillors made in the old council chamber was to
send a letter of congratulations to Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert on the birth of the heir to the throne in 1841.
Council business
transferred to the newly erected Neeld Hall during the 1840s and
other uses were found for the Yelde Hall. From 1864 the Chippenham
Company of Volunteers was allowed to use the north-west end of the
building, including the council chamber, as an armoury. The Fire
Brigade had use of the other end of the building from around 1870.
When the Chippenham Volunteers moved to the Little Ivy in 1911 the
Fire Brigade took over the whole building. They retained possession
of it until the end of World War 2, relocating to Dallas Road in
1946. After considerable debate about its future, the Hall became
the Town Museum in 1963. When the success of the Museum resulted in
it moving to larger premises in 2000 the Hall was left empty again.
It underwent a complete restoration and conservation, and then
became home to the Tourist Information Centre in 2003.
Reproduced by kind permission of K.S .Taylor