History

A building of 2 phases. The guildhall was built in 1863, at which time it incorporated a tall gabled range facing Rose Hill Street, with porch and turret facing Castle Square. The entrance was reached up stone steps from Castle Square. The building is shown in this form on the 1889 Ordnance Survey. It was extended in 1925, when the entrance steps were removed, a new porch was added in its place, and a new council chamber was added to its L with gable end facing Castle Square. The former council chamber then became a mayor's parlour.

Exterior

A Tudor-Gothic guildhall mainly of 1 storey, comprising a high L-shaped block with gable end of the mayor's parlour (of 1863) facing Rose Hill Street and gable end of the council chamber (of 1925) facing Castle Square, with lower 1-storey projections, including an entrance vestibule, to the front facing Castle Square. Of snecked red sandstone with Bath stone dressings. Steep slate roofs to council chamber and mayor's parlour have bands of fishscale slates and are behind coped gables on moulded kneelers. The mayor's parlour has moulded stone eaves on a corbel table, 2 roof dormers with barge boards and louvres, and tall lateral stone stack with 2 freestone polygonal shafts. The lower projections have roof concealed by coped parapets.
Facing Castle Street the entrance is on the R, in front of the mayor's parlour, with the gable end of the council chamber on the L. The wide entrance section, added in 1925, is slightly splayed on the L side in front of the council chamber gable end, following the line of the road. The moulded arched doorway is framed by a richly ornamented, projecting gabled bay with freestone detail. The doorway has foliage and quatrefoil decoration in the spandrels, superimposed by a panel with 'Guildhall' in raised antique letters, all under a hood mould. Above it is a gabled niche with flanking pinnacles and ogee head with blind tracery, framing a roundel with the borough seal and '1284' and '1925' in Roman numerals, all in relief. Double ribbed doors have studs and strap hinges.
To the R of the doorway is a high-set 3-light mullioned window and in the facet to the L similar 3-light and 1-light windows. A cast-iron rainwater head between L-hand windows, and another in the short R-hand return, are dated 1925. Set back to the R of the entrance section is the front of the original building, a single bay with 1-light window to Castle Square and moulded string course which is continuous with a square 2-stage turret set back further R. This has narrow windows in the lower stage and in the upper stage lozenges with blind quatrefoils. The embattled parapet is on a corbel table. Behind this turret are 2 stepped projecting 2-storey bays facing Rose Hill Street. The L-hand has 2-light windows with central colonnette, and the R-hand 1-light windows.
The gable end of the mayor's parlour incorporates a square tower on its R side. There is a basement entrance with arched doorway with boarded door and strap hinges, to the R of which is a 2-light window with colonnette and under a pointed relieving arch. Above is a moulded string course continued from the stepped bays on the L side, and with a foliage stop. In the ground floor is a pair of 2-light plate tracery windows to the parlour. Each has a colonnette with foliage capital, cusped lights with quatrefoil. In the coped gable is a cusped round window. To the L of the main window, above the string course, is a cast iron street sign. The slightly lower 3-stage tower abuts No 1 Rose Hill Street. In its lower stage it has a cusped window to the street, and boarded door in the L return wall, under a shouldered head. The second stage has a 2-light window with colonnette and hood mould, and 1-light window in the L return wall. The freestone offset between 2nd and 3rd stages incorporates cusped freestone gables in both faces. The narrower upper stage has a similar 2-light window to the street, and 1-light window in the return wall. The coped parapet is on a Lombard frieze.
The gabled front of the council chamber faces Castle Square and is faceted. It has freestone bands, and a 4-light mullioned and transomed window with cusped-headed lights, and hood mould. A round window in the gable has a pointed quatrefoil. The L side wall has 3 half dormers under shallow hipped roofs, with cross windows, to the R of which is another dated rainwater head. Against the L side wall of the council chamber is a coped wall with iron gate, leading up stone steps to a rear ribbed door, under an ogee head, in a slight projecting porch.
The rear of the council chamber, now facing a car park, is brick, with 4-light window similar to the front. The rear of the mayor's parlour is of rubble stone.

Interior

The entrance vestibule leads to steps and a corridor leading L to the council chamber and R to the mayor's parlour. It has a plaster ceiling and terrazzo floor. The corridor is top-lit by a round roof light. Double ribbed doors lead to chamber and parlour. The mayor's parlour has a 3-bay arched-brace roof on corbels, and arcading to the eaves. It also has a lateral Gothic fireplace incorporating outer marble half shafts on foliage corbels. The 3-bay council chamber has a 3-bay hammerbeam roof on corbelled brackets, strengthened by steel ties. It has rich plaster ceilings with relief foliage painted in bright colours, and iron grilles.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its special architectural interest as a C19 and early C20 civic building of definite character, making an important contribution to the historical townscape in a prominent position in the shadow of Conwy Castle.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• The Guildhall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q29483124

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

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6