Worcester: The Guildhall

     Without a doubt the most important secular building in Worcester is the sumptuous, Baroque Guildhall.  Pevsner thought there was something barbaric about it, but I'm not so sure about that. I think it splendid. 

     It was built between 1721 & 1724 and Pevsner and Richard Morrice, in 'Stuart and Baroque' in 'The Buildings of Britain' series, credit the design to Thomas White who was the sculptor of the exuberant display of arms in the pediment. The three statues arranged around the main door are of Charles I, II and Queen Anne - a very public display of the city's support of the Royalist cause in the Civil War.  Surprisingly the Guildhall was restored, in the 1870s, by that arch-goth Sir George Gilbert Scott, who did so much work at the cathedral, and it seems none the worse for it. The slightly lower side wings are a rather French in style, what with their chainage and all, and very stylish; as are the wrought iron gates and overthrow.