Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: Guildhall, Gresham Street, The City EC2V 7HH. Website: cityoflondonguides.com
How much do the tickets cost?
£15.
What are the opening hours?
The Guided Tours are 11am to 12.15pm (once a month, except for Aug and Nov); The tour is usually held on the same day as the Common Council meeting.
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to the Guildhall takes 1½ to 2 hours.
Which buses go to the Guildhall?
Bus routes 8, 11, 21, 23, 25, 26, 43, 76, 100, 133, 141, 242 and 388 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Bank, which connects with the Central DLR Northern and Waterloo & City lines. You can walk the ¼ mile to the Guildhall in about 4 minutes.
Which other attractions are nearby?
These attractions are all within 15 minutes walk of the Guildhall: Guildhall Art Gallery, Bank of England Museum, Mansion House, One New Change, London Mithraeum, Royal Exchange, Postman’s Park, St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Bartholomew-the-Great, Horizon 22, Leadenhall Market, The Monument, Sky Garden and London Museum.
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Email My review of the Guildhall
Not many tourists bother visiting Guildhall which is a shame because it’s one of the most historic buildings in the City. The site is supposed to date all the way back to the early 12th-century when Londoners came to pay their ‘geld’ in the crumbling stumps of the Roman amphitheatre. Imagine having a tax office in the middle of an amphitheatre. That’s one way to get people to pay up.
You can see the ring of the old amphitheatre marked out with a line of grey bricks on the forecourt. And when you sign up for one of their guided tours you have to meet them in the Guildhall Art Gallery next-door, where you can see what’s left of it in the basement – that’s where I’m standing right now, watching all the tourists hanging their hats and bags on the cloakroom hooks, fifty feet from where the Roman gladiators would have been getting ready for their own bout. It’s worth turning up early to have a longer look around because they’ve got some great paintings in there (see my separate review).
Photo: londondrum.comOur guide today is a nice elderly gent who hopefully won’t mind me mentioning his age because I mean it as a compliment. In my experience the younger ones tend to rush around and tell too many jokes, like they’re putting on a performance, whereas the older ones take their time and tell you the history through a bit of friendly conversation.
He starts off on the forecourt where he explains the dates and architecture. If you look past the ornate entrance which was added in the 1780s, and forget the roof too, because that was rebuilt after the Luftwaffe dropped a bomb on top, then those dark brown walls are 15th-century – that’s Dick Whittington’s era. That’s Henry V. Those walls went up a few decades after Agincourt. That’s how old the Guildhall is.
Inside the medieval Great Hall
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It’s amazing to think that Henry V held a big banquet inside these very walls. This is where Lady Jane Grey was put on trial for her life after her nine day reign. Henry VIII’s old Archbishop Thomas Cranmer ended up in here as well, and in 1606 they had one of the Gunpowder Plotters on trial.
These days the Great Hall hosts some of the City’s biggest ceremonial occasions including the monarch’s Coronation banquet, the Lord Mayor’s annual banquet, and the monthly meetings of the Court of Common Council.
The statues of Gog and Magog on the balcony
Photo: londondrum.comIf you look up on the balcony you can see the two huge figures of Gog and Magog. These are the traditional guardians of the City, and legend says when they were defeated by the mythical king Brutus he chained them to the gates of his palace as guard dogs. If you ever attend the annual Lord Mayor’s Show then you’ll see them paraded through the streets as two huge wicker versions.
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Around the sides of the hall are monuments to some of the country’s greatest political and military figures including William Pitt the Elder, William Pitt the Younger, Admiral Nelson, Wellington and Churchill.
Beneath the ceiling they’ve put the crests of London’s livery companies, all sorted into order based on their power and prestige. These medieval guilds were the trade associations of their day, and the hanging banners of the ‘Great Twelve’ look like captured battle flags.
Photo: londondrum.com
Inside the 11th-century crypt
After you’ve seen the Great Hall the guide takes you down some stone stairs to one of London’s largest medieval crypts. The eastern half is supposed to be 1th-century and they’ve backlit the stained glass windows so the whole place glows with famous faces from the past including Geoffrey Chaucer and Samuel Pepys.
Photo: londondrum.comAnd that’s it… but not quite! They always time the guided tour to coincide with the monthly Common Council upstairs, so if you don’t mind hanging around for another couple of hours then you can watch the Lord Mayor presiding over it in the Great Hall.
The Guildhall appears in my two days in London itinerary
London Squire guidebook – Check out my guidebook available to buy at Amazon, Apple and Kobo. I’ve personally visited 210 London landmarks, attractions and hotels and collected all of my reviews, example itineraries, handy practical info, and advice about using the buses and trains into an eBook, along with 675 original photos
What do you think? (2)
Ask a question, or share your experience of the Guildhall
Brian Can you get inside the Guildhall and have a look around without booking a tour? (reply)
Craig Hi Brian. You can do, yes – as long as they don’t have a meeting on at the time. All you have to do is go through those glass doors in that pepperpot-shaped building to the left of the Guildhall. They’ll search your bags and then you go down a corridor into the Great Hall. But if you go on a guided tour then you’ll get to see some other impressive rooms as well, like the crypt and Old Library. (reply)
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