3-021-183 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Interior of Guildhall, [City of London], as restored, 1865. '...the present, or third Guildhall...[dates from] the year 1411...In the Great Fire [1666] the open oak roof was entirely destroyed...[It was replaced, and] for more than 150 years did the citizens bear the reproach of having their noble hall disfigured...the Corporation had resolved "to restore the roof after its pristine style"...The [new] roof and other restorations were confided to Mr. Horace Jones, the City architect...the work is being executed by Messrs. Myers...and its general construction...is as nearly as possible in accordance with the period in which the hall was originally built...a number of windows by which the interior of the building was lighted from both sides, and which had been closed for generations, have been reopened with excellent effect; and, by the removal of an unsightly coating of plaster and cement, all the characteristic outlines of the internal architectural embellishments have been brought prominently out...The new roof is of oak, with rather a high pitch: it is lighted by sixteen dormers, eight on each side, and from the centre springs a louvre for the purposes of light and ventilation, as well as ornament, and it will have a lofty spire'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.