Lanterna Rally

Author: Cecil Deedes

Publisher:

Published: 2015-08-04

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 9781332172375

Excerpt from The Old Town Hall Library of Leicester: A Catalogue, With Introduction, Glossary of the Names of Places, Notices of Authors, Notes, and List of Missing Books On viewing this room and that above it we find, along with abundant evidence of the work of adornment done at that time, traces of earlier work, not only in the glass which fills the windows and contains many times repeated the cognizance of the Guild, but in some of the stonework, especially in the upper story. The general impression left, however, is that, whatever may have been preserved, the work of the seventeenth century practically amounted, in this part of the building, to a fairly thorough renovation. But when we pass from the Mayors Parlour into the Great Hall, once the place where Assizes were held, and still bearing signs of such use, the main features of the fabric tell a different story. The substantial part, the walls and the roof, belong to the middle of the fifteenth century. The panelling at the back of the dais is of about the same date as the Mayors Parlour. The rail in front of the gallery at the East end from which gallery a persistent, if rather unsubstantial, tradition says that Queen Elizabeth watched the performance of one of Shakespere splays belongs in character to about the year 1720, and the same date may be assigned to the gallery overlooking the dais in front of what was used as the Grand Jury room. A staircase leads from the quadrangle to the upper story of the eastern part. We pass through a room now used by the Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society into the Library, which is divided from this room by a modern wooden partition. Here the general characteristics are the same as in the western portion. The panelling of both rooms is of about the same date(1637) as that which is in embossed letters on the carved fire-place in the Mayors Parlour; the beams were cased about the middle of the same century. Yet everything inside and out points not so much to erection or even rebuilding as to adornment and improvement. The general indications of such a survey are, that substantially what is known as the Old Town Hall is the older home of the Guild of Corpus Christi, restored, as we should say in our day, but not rebuilt, the signs and results of restoration being more marked and prominent in some parts than in others. The Records of the Borough, especially the Chamberlains Accounts, which are very clear and well kept, tend to confirm the story told by the building itself. We find from a study of them, first, that while the Hall of the Guild of Corpus Christi was used, from time to time, by the Corporation even in the fourteenth century, it was not purchased until some time during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. One of the conditions of purchase was the continuance of a yearly payment of 7-y.gd. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.