At the heart of Coventry, St Mary's Guildhall is one of the finest preserved medieval guildhalls in England. The seat of the town's civic and mercantile power, it was the setting of two Tudor moments: the captivity of Mary Stuart, and the presence of an exceptional tapestry, one of the few woven in England to have stayed in its place.
The hall of the Coventry merchants
Built from 1340 to 1342 and enlarged in 1460, the guildhall was the heart of the civic and corporate life of Coventry, one of the great towns of medieval and Renaissance England. Its roofed great hall, its armorial glass and its annexe rooms bear witness to the wealth of the merchant guilds that governed the city. It was in this solemn setting that the ceremonies, banquets and assemblies of the notables were held — the equivalent, for the town, of a palace of the community.
The captivity of Mary Stuart
In 1569-1570, after the failure of the Rising of the North (a Catholic revolt in favour of Mary), Mary Stuart was held at Coventry by order of Elizabeth I — officially 'for her protection', in reality to keep her away from any hotbed of conspiracy. The dethroned queen of Scots was kept in the Mayoress's Parlour of the guildhall. The great hall also shelters the Coventry Tapestry (around 1505-1515), one of the very rare English tapestries still in situ, depicting King Henry VI and Queen Margaret of Anjou. To see: the medieval great hall, the Coventry Tapestry (c. 1505-1515), the armorial glass, the Mayoress's Parlour where Mary Stuart was kept.
Did you know?
The Coventry Tapestry, woven around 1505-1515, is one of the very few English Renaissance tapestries never to have left the place for which it was created. Most tapestries of this quality came from Flanders and have been dispersed or destroyed; that of Coventry, remaining in its place for five centuries, offers an exceptional testimony of the textile art and the royal iconography of the late Plantagenet age.
Notes
St Mary's Guildhall lies on Bayley Lane, Coventry, West Midlands; a monument open to the public. Hours to check.
Quiz
- Which queen was held at the guildhall in 1569-1570?
- Mary Stuart
- Anne Boleyn
- Elizabeth I
- Who ordered her detention?
- Elizabeth I
- The pope
- Henry VIII
- What is exceptional about the Coventry Tapestry?
- It is an English tapestry that has stayed in situ for 5 centuries
- It is of gold
- It is Roman