A Short History of Chippenham’s Historic Yelde Hall and Council Chamber

A Short History of Chippenham’s Historic Yelde Hall and Council Chamber

By Kay S. Taylor, BA PhD

The Early History of Chippenham, Wiltshire Archaeological excavations in and around Chippenham have indicated that there was a prehistoric settlement on Chippenham Hill and that there was at least one Romano-British farm building on the site later known as Englands. Additional Roman material of the first to fourth centuries AD/CE1 has been uncovered in the area of the modern market place, and the discovery of Roman roof tiles in the centre of the modern town suggests that a substantial Roman building may have once stood there.2 The town itself is probably of Saxon origin3 and the earliest known documentary evidence shows that Chippenham was a Royal Manor of the Kings of Wessex in the eighth century.

In 853 Ǽthelwista, daughter of the Wessex King Ethelwulf (and sister of Alfred), celebrated her marriage to King Buthred of Mercia with royal splendour at the Villa Regia in Chippenham.

However, as the century wore on the people of Wessex frequently found themselves under attack from the invading Danes. In 878 the Danish army ousted King Alfred from Chippenham shortly after Twelfth Night, and made their winter quarters in the town. By Easter Alfred had rallied his troops and was able to defeat the 4 Danish forces at the Battle of Ethandune (Edington).

When Alfred died in 900 he left his Chippenham manor to his daughter Alfritha, Countess of Flanders, for her life, but the district remained the personal property of the monarch who appointed a bailiff to oversee the running of his estate. The Domesday survey of 1086 described the Royal Manor of Chippenham as covering 100 aces of arable land, with six square miles of woodland and twelve mills. The local community was made up as follows: ‘in demesne are 16 carucates and 28 serfs. There are 48 villans 45 bordars and 20 cottars and 23 swineherds.’5 There were some 164 families in total, making a population of around 600

people. They were mainly tenants who owed their allegiance to their lord; who were expected to perform labour services on his lands; and who were bound by the authority of the manorial court.

Land on the north side of the River Avon was given to Norman supporters of William I. The town flourished and, from 1265, claimed the right to send two representatives to parliament. The Chippenham Manor of Sheldon and the Hundred of Chippenham had become the property of the Gascelyn family (1250-1424), and Rowden Manor of the Husēe family (1274-1392). Their coats of arms were subsequently combined, around 1300, to form the original Borough Seal, the ten billets azure being taken from the Gascelyns and the three boots from the Husēes, over the motto Sigullam Burgi Chippenham. The present motto ‘Unity and Loyalty’ and the tree were added later.6 By this time the bailiff’s role had developed from acting as overseer of the king’s lands to that of the borough’s chief administrator.

The Chippenham Coat of Arms In 1424 Christina Gascelyn and her husband Edward Hales sold Sheldon Manor and the Hundred to Walter, Lord Hungerford, the High Treasurer of England, for £1,000. Ten years later Lord Hungerford also purchased Rowden Manor. In 1540, a later Sir Walter Hungerford was charged with treason and beheaded.

Sheldon Manor was subsequently restored to the family, but without the Hundred of Chippenham. In 1684 financial problems forced Sir Edward Hungerford to sell Sheldon Manor to Richard Kent, who was later to serve as an MP for the town.

Edward VI sold the freehold of the Chippenham Hundred to Thomas, Lord Darcy in 1552.7 The following year Darcy sold it to Sir William Sharrington of Lacock, who claimed that the patents thus purchased included the freehold of the Yelde Hall.8 The town’s leaders disputed Sharrington’s claim and petitioned Queen Mary to support their cause. She sided with the townspeople, granting a charter to Chippenham in May 1554, which confirmed the appointment of a bailiff to oversee the administration of the town.

This charter named the first bailiff as: Christo Henricum Farnwell probum virum et inhabitatem dicti Burgi, which translates as ‘Our beloved in Christ Henry Farnwell an honest man and an inhabitant of the said Borough’.9 Twelve burgesses were appointed to assist the bailiff in his duties. Certain lands within the borough, known as the ‘Borough Lands’, were provided to defray the various expenses of the bailiff and burgesses. These lands were mainly taken from the Hungerford estates, just 23 days before the remainder of the property was restored to the heir of the disgraced Sir Walter, on his coming of age.10 The obligations of the bailiff and burgesses included the costs of repairs to both the town’s stone bridge over the Avon and the Causeway, as well as the costs of maintaining the town’s two M.P.s.11 The Yelde Hall Buildings The name Yelde Hall is an old form of Guildhall, and it is probable that there was an administrative building of some sort in Chippenham from the time of the town’s founding. The current building appears to have been in use at the time of Queen Mary’s Charter since that document referred to ‘a certain Hall or House within the Borough called the Yelde Hall’.

The building consists of three distinct and separate parts.

The main hall, which originally had a beaten earth floor that would have been covered with rushes, would have been used for the manorial and assize courts and for public meetings. The wood-panelled upstairs council chamber was designed as the meeting room wherein the bailiff and burgesses would discuss the administrative affairs of the town. The borough chest and the long wooden table are thought to be of the same period as the building.

The lock-up or blind house, with its floor of cobblestones, was situated below the council chamber and at a lower level than the main hall, and would have been used to detain prisoners for a variety of offences.

An earlier hall may well have occupied the site, and a small part of the current building is thought to date back to the early to mid-14th century.12 The Yelde Hall’s position in the Market Place and the Shambles led to it Yelde Hallthe withlater shops16th becoming surrounded by shops and stalls from attached century.

Over the years the building was frequently in need of repair and restoration. When extensive repairs were carried out in 1776 the bailiff of the day, John Scott, placed his initials and the town crest on the gable over the Council Chamber. The water fountain on the exterior north wall by the steps was originally situated on the north side of the High Street and the river. It had been the source of one of the town’s fresh water supplies, piped under the river The 1776 Gable from the Monkton Hill side. The last of & the Town Well

the shops that had hemmed in the Hall, a hairdresser’s and an auctioneer’s, were demolished in 1960.

Use as an Administrative and Legal Centre It is probable that the Yelde Hall had been a municipal building from the start, fulfilling a number of official roles within the town, not only as a meeting place for the bailiff and burgesses but also as a place for dispensing justice. The Lord of the Manor held his court there, and the building occasionally hosted the county’s quarter sessions. In 1632 illness meant that the quarter sessions were transferred from Marlborough to Chippenham. However the hall was deemed to be ‘very unmeet and unfittinge for the entertainment of soe worthy assemblye’ and the bailiff was put to extra expense to make the hall presentable for the occasion. The accounts book shows that it cost 1s 2d to borrowed curtains from Allington for the session and then return the same. Various repairs and decorating, including the installation of a bar at which the prisoners could stand, cost a further 14d.13 The room below the council chamber was used as the town lock-up, for holding drunks overnight and for housing prisoners en route to the county gaol at Fisherton Anger or to be tried at the quarter sessions in other towns. In 1709 the bailiff recorded that the borough incurred expenses of one shilling for seven quarts of ale when six pirates were held in custody overnight.14 It is probable that these pirates were on their way from Bristol to be tried at the crown courts in London.

The 18th Century Hall

At the time of Queen Mary’s Charter there were 129 houses, known as Burgage Houses in the town. Only the occupants of these houses could become freemen of the borough, and then only if they had paid their dues. Being a freeman had certain benefits, such as being entitled to a proportion of the crop from the Borough Lands, under a formula set down in a decree of James I in 1604. Freemen were also entitled to stand for election as, and to vote for, the bailiff and burgesses. Parliamentary and local elections were by public ballot held in the Yelde Hall. During the 19th century the town clerk regularly published lists of all the electors who voted for each parliamentary candidate.

As well as dealing with local administrative and legal matters, the town’s dignitaries would have discussed the wider political issues of the day. Thus, successive bailiffs and burgesses, mayors, aldermen and councillors would have expressed their opinions on the local impact of national events. One can imagine the lively debates at the time of the Wars of the Roses (15th century), and then the reactions to Henry VIII’s Reformation of the Church (16th century). Later, the English Civil Wars and the Restoration of Charles II, and then the Glorious Revolution that put William III on the throne in place of James II, would have provoked individuals into taking sides (17th century). The actions of the Hanovarian dynasty (18th and 19th centuries) would have doubtless triggered considerable discussion - especially the loss of America, and then the Napoleonic Wars. One of the last decisions the councillors made in the old council chamber was to send a letter of congratulations to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on the birth of the heir to the throne in 1841.

New uses for an old building Council business transferred to the newly erected Neeld Hall during the 1840s and other uses were found for the Yelde Hall. From 1864 the Chippenham Company of Volunteers was allowed to use the north-west end of the building, including the council chamber, as an armoury. The recesses in the bench under the window show where their rifles were stored.

The Fire Brigade had use of the other end of the building from around 1870. They took over the whole building when the Chippenham Volunteers moved to the Little Ivy in 1911.

The Volunteers’ canon outside the Yelde Hall Large double doors at the end of the building provided access for the fire engine. The Brigade retained possession of the Hall until the end of World War 2, relocating to Dallas Road in 1946.

Double doors for the fire engine at the eastern end of the building

Although the Fire Brigade was the major user during the 1939-1945 War, the Hall was once again pressed into service for military use, with recruitment posters festooning its walls and the local defence volunteers meeting within.

Civil Defence posters at the Yelde Hall c. 1940

Following the end of hostilities there was considerable debate about the future of the Hall, which was eventually renovated.

The fire engine doors were removed and the end wall reinstated in the style of the rest of the building.

The Hall and Council Chamber became the Town Museum in 1963.

The freestone lining of the lock-up was removed in 1986, revealing the grill and two pieces of ancient timber, and a George III coin (1760-1820) in a cavity in the south-east wall. The lock-up then became part of the museum, displaying many exhibits connected with policing in the town.

Visitors admiring the displays in the Yelde Hall Museum in 1976

Successive curators received numerous donations of artefacts, largely from local residents, that depicted not only the social history of the town and its immediate surroundings, but also the town’s agricultural, industrial and sporting heritage. When the success of the Museum resulted in it moving to larger premises in 2000 the Hall was left empty again. It was comprehensively restored, and double doors once again installed in the eastern wall – this time to create a wide and level access suitable for disabled visitors.

Yelde Hall Museum displays in October 1999 In March 2003 the main hall became home to the Tourist Information Centre. In 2012 the TIC moved to new premises and the Yelde was returned to the museum service where it is used for exhibitions and community events.

The Yelde Hall returned to the museum service in 2012

The Council Chamber The first floor Council Chamber had formed part of the original town museum, and plans to open it as a visitor attraction to complement the Museum came to fruition in December 2006. The Chamber has been brought to life using the latest lighting and audio technology, with five life-sized mannequins representing the Bailiff, Town Clerk, a Burgess, a Cleric and a Townswoman. Visitors are transported back to 1816 to experience a lively council meeting debating the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the resulting decline in the local weaving trade.

The Council Chamber displaying a tableau of 19th century proceedings

References: 1 AD/CE = Anno Domini/Common Era. 2 Michael Stone, ‘Chippenham Story II’, paper presented to the Wiltshire Chippenham Festival 21 November 2006.

3 Michael Stone, Images of England (Stroud, 2003), p. 8.

4 Anne Savage, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (London: Guild Publishing/Phoebe Phillips Editions, 1983), pp. 96-97, 101.

5 A ‘carucate’ is the amount of land that a team of oxen could plough in a season. ‘Cottars’ ‘villans/villeins’, ‘serfs’ and ‘bordars’ described the varied status of those tenants in feudal society who were obliged to undertake a range of agricultural and menial services for their lord.

6 F. H. Goldney, Records of Chippenham (London: Diprose, Bateman & Co, 1889), p. xiii.

7 Goldney, Records of Chippenham, pp. xi-xii.

8 Goldney, Records of Chippenham, pp. xi-xv; Chamberlain, Chippenham, pp. 19, 150; and Arnold Platts, A History of Chippenham AD853-1946, p.

24.

9 Joseph Chamberlain, Chippenham (Chippenham, Wiltshire: Chippenham Charter Trustees, 1976), p. 23. Henry Farnwell was also known as Henry Goldney.

10 Goldney, Records of Chippenham, pp. xx-xxi.

11 Borough of Chippenham Bailiff’s Register 1598-1684, pp. 4-6; Report of a Special Committee Appointed by the Town Council of the Borough of Chippenham to Consider Various Questions that have been Raised as to the Freemen’s Rights and the Borough Lands Generally, 14 May 1895, p. 3; and John Perkins, The Corporate Property and Freedom of the Borough of Chippenham (Chippenham, Wiltshire: manuscript, 1905).

12 Kirsty Rodwell, ‘Archaeological Investigations at the Yelde Hall, Chippenham, 2001-2 (Typescript report to North Wilts District Council, 2002), p. 21.

13 Borough of Chippenham Bailiff’s Register 1684-1774.

14 Borough of Chippenham Bailiff’s Register 1603-1684. See also George White, Chippenham in Bygone Days (London: 1924); Chamberlain, Chippenham; and Platts, A History of Chippenham.

Copyright Š Kay S. Taylor and Chippenham Town Council 2007

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright holder.

Kay S. Taylor hereby asserts her moral rights to be identified as the author of this work.

Author details: Dr Taylor has been a volunteer warden with the Chippenham Museum since 1997. She was awarded her PhD from the University of the West of England in 2006 for her thesis on 17th century Wiltshire Quakerism.

Acknowledgements: Pictures reproduced by kind permission of Chippenham Museum, and the author. Illustration on back page by Susie Brooks.

Illustration by Susie Brooks