Abingdon Guildhall
Abingdon Guildhall
Following grant of conditional listed building consent for alterations to the rear of the Old Magistrates’ Court at the Grade I and II listed Guildhall, Asset Heritage were instructed by the Town Council to create a Level 3 Historic Building Record of a late 15th-century spiral staircase that had been walled in during previous works in the 1960s. The staircase had originally provided access to the upper room over the Grade I listed Abbey Gateway and to an intermediate floor level over a porter’s lodge that was taken out in the 19th century.
The upper room was used as the Borough prison from the mid-16th century until the early 19th century, when it was converted by the Corporation into a room for Council meetings, banqueting and receptions. The old spiral staircase thus became redundant, with new access to the space (the ‘Abbey Room’) formed by an extension upwards of an early 18th-century timber staircase located in the building adjoining the Guildhall. Asset Heritage also undertook a separate appraisal of this staircase for the Town Council in order to inform considerations of how to make the Abbey Room accessible for all. The spiral staircase had been blocked and was sealed off altogether in the 1960s’, concealing both it and a surviving arched doorway from view.
The submission of the Historic Building Record resulted in the relevant condition on consent being discharged, enabling works to proceed to create a new WC and baby-changing area with disabled access.