Historic Guildhall in Chichester opens to the public

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Transcript

00:00The Guildhall is the only remaining building of what was a Franciscan Priory,

00:05which was finished in about 1282, I think. Then along came Henry VIII. As you know,

00:11it dissolved all the monasteries, flattened the Franciscan Priory here,

00:17apart from the Guildhall, which we're stood by now. My favourite story about the Guildhall though

00:24is the Hawkers gang. Guildhall is probably best known for their trial. It was used as a courthouse

00:32in the 1750s and they were brought to trial here after doing horrible things to three people,

00:39I think it was. One in particular they threw into a well and then piled stones on top of him.

00:45Not very nice, but they were brought to trial here in the Guildhall. They were found guilty

00:51and they were hung. That's my favourite story about it. From then on the Guildhall changed hands so

00:59many times, eventually became under the authority of the City Council and that's how it remains now.