The Guildhall is run by the Town Trust, not the Town Council, and more information about the Trust and bookings can be obtained from towntrustbookings@gmail.com
The current Town Trust Chairman is Anthony Richards.
Bookings:
The rooms in the Guildhall are available for hire, contact the Town Trust on towntrustbookings@gmail.com for more information.
History:
Bradninch has probably had a Guildhall since the 12th century, most likely at the top of the Town not far from the present one. That early building was supposedly rebuilt in the early 15th century. That was destroyed by the fire of 1666 and rebuilt on the same site. At that time The Guildhall, Town Gaol and Green Dragon public house formed one building made of cob and thatch. The Green Dragon formed the Western half with the Guildhall above the gaol as the Eastern half. By all accounts the gaol was a dreadful place and it is perhaps fortunate that the whole building was destroyed by fire in 1832.
The core of the current building is what was built to replace it, but is probably not on exactly the same site. The 1891 census shows that the Guildhall was occupied by the Town Police Constable and his family, so there may have been a gaol in the building as well. By 1901 a new building had been erected next to the Guildhall to house the Constable and gaol.
Up until 1886 the Guildhall belonged to the Corporation of the Borough of Bradninch. The Borough was disbanded in 1886 and Bradninch Town Trust was created in 1889 to take over the Borough’s properties and that continues to this day.
The main entrance was through the central door and there were several rooms downstairs with a hall on the first floor. The earliest pictures show single storey lean-toos on either side. At some point these were converted to two storeys, substantially increasing the size of the hall. In 1921 major work was carried out and it is believed that the addition of the rear part containing the billiard room and Council Chamber were part of this work. The balcony at the front was also added at this time.
The latest major work was in 1989 with the conversion of the downstairs from several rooms to a single large room and the addition of a new kitchen extension and public toilets at the rear. (The public toilets were later demolished.) The work made the central door unusable so the main entrance was changed to the doors on the right hand side.
Most recently, the fire alarm and lighting system have been replaced to bring them up to modern standards.
The Town Trust are currently drawing up plans to renovate the building to improve accessibility to the upstairs with accessible toilet facilities upstairs too. Plans are very near to submission for planning and listed building consent and will be shown here when ready.