Guildhall

The original Guildhall was over Bargate. The Civic Centre, incorporating the new Guildhall, was built over the years from 1929 and has been described as ‘perhaps the most ambitious civic building (of) inter-war years’. The Guildhall of 1937 is at the centre of the east front. It has a striking portico, with six Ionic columns and is of Portland stone. The vestibule has a marble floor and walls of stone and oak; the ceiling, Venetian-style painted wood, has bronze candelabra, and around the walls are twelve carved plaques by George Alexander with gold mosaic backgrounds depicting regions around the world linked by shipping to the port of Southampton. The hall itself is 144ft long, without the stage, 72ft wide and 48ft high, with a balcony, which features six coats of arms of local families copied from the seventeenth and eighteenth century shields on the Bargate. The walls are English walnut, above which is masonry up to the decorated ambulatory which is filled with grilles of old silver. The stage has a slight rake and no flying equipment. There is a Compton organ.

The Guildhall has presented everything from drama to ballet, to briefings from General Eisenhower during pre-invasion years. Many concerts are broadcast.