Durham Town Hall, Durham

The historic Town Hall is on the west side of old Durham's marketplace. Although it is sometimes also called the Guild Hall, the Town Hall and the Guild Hall are separate buildings. The Town Hall is only recently open to the public after the latest renovations. It has been the civic center of the town since the 14th century.

The Town Hall is a complex of attached buildings. The earliest building was erected in 1356 as a meeting place for merchant guilds. A plain wooden structure was rebuilt by Prince-Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1535 and again by Prince-Bishop John Cosin in 1665.

In the rear of Cosin's rebuilt hall is the so-called "new" Town Hall, built in 1851. The new Town Hall, designed by architect Philip Charles Hardwick, features Perpendicular Gothic-style architecture. Inside, the 72-foot-long Great Hall has a hammer-beam roof. The roof is 56 feet high. The walls are lined with commemorative plaques of notable citizens.

The Council Chamber of the Hall is now the meeting place of the mayor and aldermen of Durham. The indoor markets, installed in 1852, go around and underneath the Town Hall complex.

Since November 2018, the personal belongings of Josef Boruwlaski, a court dwarf and self-styled Count, have been on display in the Town Hall. Boruwlaski performed at many royal courts of Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. He was known as "the Little Count." The Town Hall also contains the original city charter; and the civic sword and pikes.