Finchingfield Guildhall Project History

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About Finchingfield and the Guildhall

Finchingfield Guildhall is homed in the small village of Finchingfield, northwest of Essex around 8 miles north of Braintree and slightly 6 miles west of Halstead.
The village itself houses much history; much of the building within the village is packed with history. The village is home to Essex’s smallest and last standing windmill of its kind, period houses such as cottages and small shops.

It is also known to play a part in the ‘Poor Law’ brought out in 1834 when it became part of the Braintree Union sending many of its poorest village members to work houses within Braintree.

Guildhall Project

The Finchingfield Guildhall Project is run and managed by a trust of volunteers; these people are responsible for maintaining and managing the property. The trust itself has been around since the early 1500’s and has had many connections in the past with other charity organisations and foundations but the Guildhall itself has always played an essential part in the charity organisations.
The Charity Commission is allowing the development of a new charity that will be run by the local villagers. The charity itself will be granted a lease on the building and will act as the management committee taking on ultimate responsibly.

History

In 1470 the Guild of the Holy Trinity was responsible for the foundations of the Guildhall. The Guildhall used to play a vital part within the village as it was used as a school room and on the upper floor the in the main hall it would be used for feasts such as saints days.
Soon after a law was passed resulting in the ban of Guilds, this resulted in the Guildhall falling into disrepair. It was soon pick up by a gentleman named as John Mildmay. He also has a current building within the village that is named after him.
Later on in the 1600’s the Guildhall was sold and another gentleman named as Robert Kempe purchased the Guildhall and invested money for the building to be restored and the possibility of it being extended. Once he had completed his project on the building it was eventually sold to the villagers for a tidy sum of £50.
Here the deeds can be seen below. This proves ownership of the Guildhall by the villagers and has remained in the ownership of the villagers ever since.

The Guildhall was to later be used as a school and sections as almshouses, studies also reveal that the school established was done by Robert Kempe and endowing land to support it. Unfortunately it was not until 1658 that almshouses were recorded in the Guildhall so it cannot be for certain what happened to the building during the period between 1630 and 1658.  
Throughout the centuries the Guildhall has always played a role within the village. this ranges from a variety of functions, civic administration, poor relief and education such as school teaching. 
Education continued to be taught in the guildhall right through until the 20th century but in the early years of this century the building began to fall back into disrepair. There was only one occupant within the building at this time resulting in the building falling into this condition, a possibility in the lack of finance. It was at this period of time that the building required another investment of finance to bring it back to restoration once again.
The building lay in disrepair until the late 1930’s when it was decided by the villagers to put matter right. Members of the village decided to write to the charity commission and this lead to a new scheme being devised. This grew into a number of small charities one being the United Charities of Finchingfield. The Guildhall was vested with the Official Custodian and now is held in their trust even today.
The war played a large contribution to the disruptions of the schemes to the Guildhall and soon after later in 1954 a small museum room and library as allocated on the ground floor. Also on the upper floor the main school room became the ‘Parish Room’.
5 Years later the almshouses on the ground floor became homes to new residents and a further 2 more were created on the upper floor for the first time.

Findings

Coming up the currently restoration period today, in preparation the Guildhall was cleared out by the local charity trust. On clearing out the property they came across mounds of old brown paper and within this brown paper were several paintings reflecting the life of Finchingfield.
“Paintings of life in north Essex over 100 years ago have been discovered in Finchingfield's Guildhall”
“Works by local artist Arthur Legge were found in a locked chest whilst it was being cleared in preparation for a forthcoming restoration project. Over 20 paintings and sketches of the local area were wrapped in brown paper”.

Article from the BBC Essex News.
Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/essex/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9019000/9019486.stm
Together with the sale of these paints, donations and the lottery fund contributions the restoration projects will be going ahead within the next year 2012.

Restoration

This restoration project is an essential part of the life of the Guildhall. As for over 500 years the Guildhall has played a vital role in the village of Finchingfield and to the villagers themselves. This restoration project will not only continue to serve historic history with the villagers but also on a much wider community. It will hopefully bring in other financial support as visitors from all over will be brought towards the village in the interests of seeing the museum and its history.
Unfortunately before this can go ahead there are some complicated restoration proceeds to be carried out. English Heritage have declared the Guildhall to be at risk. The roof, walls and flooring all need to be restored. This is little to no water amenities so new facilities within the building will need to be developed including the adaption to some of the rooms for access to all. At current, the building has very restrictive access and only to the most abled-bodied.

What is in line for the project restoration?

• Cement render, concrete floors and modern partitions will be stripped out
• Roof tiles will be removed, saving as many as possible for re-use
• Repairs will be made to the oak frame and roof timbers
• The walls will be coated with lime render, repairs made to the original wattle and daub, internal floors replaced with limecrete and brick
• Modern partitions removed
• Insulation, heating, kitchen and WC facilities will be installed
• A greatly improved internal layout will make the best possible use of space

To use the project to its fully potential the project restoration will:

• The original guildhall on the upper floor will be restored, offering a dramatic, intimate and historic venue for meetings, exhibitions, performances and functions
• The library and museum will occupy the ground floor offering an exciting and vibrant interpretation of this ancient settlement
• Works by local authors, including Dodie Smith and Norman Lewis, will be featured
• A pneumatic lift and new staircase will permit access to all