The Gilds were so important a part of the religious and social life of the city that it is imperative that some notice of their hall, which stands in suggestive proximity to the churches, should be given. St. Mary Hall, opposite the south side of St. Michael’s is one of the most complete and beautiful examples of a fifteenth-century town dwelling now remaining in England It originally belonged to the Gilds of Holy Trinity and Our Lady to which were united at a later time those of St. Katharine and St. John Baptist, the oldest to be founded By the fine groined gateway we enter the courtyard, on the south side of which is the kitchen, probably the hall of an older structure of the first half of the fourteenth century, the present hall and its undercroft on the west side having been built between 1394 and 1414. On the east side is the entrance to the staircase leading to a gallery from which the hall is entered At this end is the Minstrels’ Gallery and beneath it are three doorways, the centre one leading to the kitchens below, that on the right to the old Council Chamber, that on the left to a smaller room known as the Princes’ Chamber. From the Council Chamber is reached the stone-groined Treasury, now used for the safe keeping of muniments and records. It forms the first floor of a low tower.

The hall, 70 feet by 30 feet, is of five bays, with the usual dais and oriel window at the far end from the entrance.

The nine-light window over the dais has its original glass, made, it is believed, by the John Thornton of Coventry who is known as the maker of the east window of York Minster. The upper part has numerous coats of arms of kings, cities, and princes, while the nine lights are filled with “portraitures of several kings in their surcotes,” William I, Richard I, Henry III, IV, V, VI, King Arthur, the Emperor Constantine, and another unnamed The windows on either side of the hall have suffered grievously. Those on the west (left) were deprived of their heraldry and portraits in 1785. In those on the east new glass with poor imitations of the ancient series of figures and coats-of-arms was placed in 1824. At the same time the wainscotting painted in 1580 with inscriptions and heraldry was cleared away and replaced with cement. The inscriptions were copied with care, but “the ornamentation was followed without any very fastidious copying of the uncouth ancient style"! The timber roof is of low pitch, with traceried spandrels above the tie-beams. Angels playing on a variety of instruments are placed at the centre of each tie-beam and there is much good carving of foliage and animals at the intersections of the timbers. The most famous adornment of the hall is the tapestry behind the dais. The following views as to its origin and subject are those of George Scharf the antiquary. It is of Flemish design but probably of English manufacture, is woven, not embroidered, and was made in the early sixteenth century for the place it occupies, its compartments corresponding with those of the window. It is in six compartments in two rows. The upper central has a figure of Justice, an insertion probably in the place of Christ, angels with the instruments of the Passion being on either side. The lower central represents the Assumption of the Virgin in presence of the apostles. The upper left in order from the centre has eleven saints, Ss. John Baptist, Matthias (?), Paul, Adrian, Peter, George, Andrew, No 8(?), Bartholomew, Simon, Thaddeus. The corresponding female saints on the right are Ss. Katherine, Barbara, Dorothy, Mary Magdalen, No 5 (?), Margaret, Agnes, Gertrude of Nivelle, Anne, Apollonia.

The lower left has a king kneeling at a prie-dieu on which is his crown and an open book. A cardinal kneels behind him but there is no other ecclesiastic among the seventeen courtiers standing behind In the opposite compartment is a queen kneeling with a number of ladies, among whom are two in monastic dress. Although the work belongs to the reign of Henry VII, the king and queen are almost certainly Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou.

On the walls are portraits of later sovereigns from William III to George IV, that of George III being by Lawrence. The Mayoress’ Parlour opening from the dais has been drastically restored It contains portraits of Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, James I, and Charles I, and four benefactors to the city, John Hales, founder of the Free School, Sir Thomas White, Thomas Jesson and Christopher Davenport.