St John's Rooms

Ostensibly a two-storey building with imposing Georgian façade. It is believed that a building existed on the site in Saxon times, though evidence is not conclusive. The ground floor consists of a complete twelfth century hospital ward, and fragments of adjoining chapel and kitchen, having been two wards, and two chapels, one for men, one for women, later altered and expanded. In 1751 an Assembly Room was added at first floor level, lowering the ceiling of the hospital, and adding the façade seen today. Between 1788 and 1845 almost every prominent musician including Paganini and Liszt played there and theatricals were presented. It is not known how large the stage was. Splendid plasterwork remains, and the portraits from the panels are now displayed in the Guildhall opposite. The building later variously served as a Town Hall and a Courthouse. From 1900, possibly, pictures were shown and in 1910 the hall was leased by John and James Simpkins (who later leased the Regent and the Market Hotel, later Theatre Royal), and converted for ciné-variety. Projection ports from this era remain. Many uses followed (for some time it was the home of the Attic Theatre Company), and in 1993 it was leased and restored by Immanuel Church.