This room was one of the most surprising places that we discovered while in Beverley. This former courtroom is the oldest part of the Guildhall. At the end of the room behind me, a medieval timbered wall has in recent years been exposed.
From 1501 when the original building was purchased for the town it was used as a meeting place, council chamber and courtroom. It is still used for ceremonial civic occasions.
Petty Sessions (later renamed magistrates’ court) were held here. Petty Sessions tried ‘summary offences’ with two or three magistrates sitting without a jury. In Beverley the mayor was the principal magistrate. Summary offences include assault, breaches of the peace, drunk and disorderly, vagrancy, poaching, infringements of by-laws. Those accused of ‘capital offences’ such as murder were also arraigned here to appear at the Quarter Sessions, which were held elsewhere.
As soon as we entered this room there was a sense of familiarity, and while talking to one of the staff we discovered that this court had appeared in a TV production of 'Death Comes to Pemberley' The story was a continuation of 'Pride and Prejudice', and much of the filming took place in Yorkshire. York was used for a number of scenes, and I took photos of the locations being prepared. I posted a collage at the time. Sadly I wasn't able to take photos of the actual filming, but these shots were taken the day before filming started - http://365project.org/fishers/365/2013-07-29
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are all very much appreciated.
I hope that you are enjoying this tour of Beverley. So much to see in a very compact town centre. I hope that we are able to visit again quite soon and catch up on some of the places that we missed on this visit.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are all very much appreciated.
I hope that you are enjoying this tour of Beverley. So much to see in a very compact town centre. I hope that we are able to visit again quite soon and catch up on some of the places that we missed on this visit.
Ian
Thank you John - it was a lovely place to explore!
Ian