Description

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

SP2054NW CHURCH STREET
604-1/10/52 (East side)
25/10/51 Guildhall, King Edward VI Grammar
School
(Formerly Listed as:
CHURCH STREET
(East side)
King Edward VI Grammar School; The
Old Vicarage; The Pedagogue's House)

GV I

Formerly known as: Guildhall (part) CHURCH STREET.
Guildhall, now school, incorporating slightly earlier house to
rear. c1417, bay to left end slightly later. For the Guild of
the Holy Cross. Timber-frame with plaster infill on renewed
ashlar base; tile roof. L-plan.
2 storeys; 6-window range. 1st floor jettied on joist ends
with moulded bressumer. Entry to left end bay has iron gates.
Ground floor has 5-light windows with leaded glazing behind
diagonal wood mullions and plain sills, 3-light window to left
end; 1st floor has 4-light windows, but one to left end of 2
lights and one to centre of 3 lights, leaded glazing. Close
studding with tension braces to right end.
Rear has jettied 1st floor and gabled wing to left with inner
return lean-to outshut and outer return gabled wing; return
entrance and elliptical arch to through-passage; varied
fenestration including large 6- and 7-light diagonal-mullioned
windows to ground floor, cross-casements to 1st floor; wing
has 1st floor 4-light ovolo-mullioned and transomed window,
similar 3-light windows to gabled dormers to outshut, one to
return.
INTERIOR: hall has double-chamfered beams and C15 moulded
spine beam, blocked south window; signs of dais and remains of
C15 wall paintings and inscription; C20 stair and original
winding stair. Over Hall has varying arch-braced tie beam
trusses with collars and struts, signs of partitioning to 2nd
from south; plaster panel with inscribed names etc, and old
desks and master's chair; wing (armoury) has early C17
panelling and fireplace with painted Stuart arms, ogee-headed
doorway has remains of painted decoration; upper room has
moulded ceiling beams to c1500 ceiling now removed and
painting of Tudor roses etc; ogee-headed doorway with battened
wide-boarded door with strap hinges.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the guild was founded in 1269 and refounded
after amalgamations in 1403; it was suppressed in 1547 and the
Guildhall passed to the corporation, who used the hall for
meetings until 1842; plays were performed here 1569 and later.
The guild's school was reconstituted as the present grammar
school in 1555, the Over Hall being used for teaching; its
most notable pupil was, it is said, William Shakespeare,
1564-1616.
(VCH (offprint): Styles P: The Borough of Stratford-upon-Avon
and the Parish of Alveston: London: 1946-: 12; Fogg N:
Stratford-upon-Avon: Portrait of a Town: Chichester: 1986-:
3-9, 19; Forrest H E: The Old Houses of Stratford-upon-Avon:
London: 1925-: 129FF; Puddephat W: The Guild Chapel & Other
Guild Buildings of Stratford-upon-Avon: Stratford-upon-Avon:
1987-).

Listing NGR: SP2011354695

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Guildhall,king Edward Vi Grammar School at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17528336

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

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)