The Conservative Club

The Conservative Club, Wisbech, Hill Street (North Side)

This building began as a former guildhall dating from around 1379. It was subsequently used principally as a grammar school from 1549 to 1898, and now functions as a political club.

The hall range dates to approximately 1379 and was ceiled-in and probably refenestrated during the 18th century, with the roof structure mostly renewed during remodelling in 1808. The west wing was added in either 1549 or 1585, and was refitted in the 19th century. A northern extension was added in either 1651 or 1716. The south porch probably dates to the 18th century. Further alterations were carried out in the 19th century and in the mid and late 20th centuries.

The building's structural materials are now largely concealed by 20th-century roughcast. The hall range may be stone, while the porch, east gable and west gable stack are brick. The roofs are 19th-century Welsh slate.

The building forms an L-plan. The hall range is single storey with three bays, while the west wing rises to two storeys plus attics with a single bay. The porch is two storeys with a single bay.

The hall range features three round-headed windows with leaded glazing, each with impost blocks and keystones. Three similar windows on the north side are now covered by a late 20th-century addition and have been converted to doorways. The east end has a crowstepped gable, probably dating to the 18th century. Dormers were installed in 1808 but removed probably in the early 20th century.

The west wing contains a renewed 8/8 sash window with a late 20th-century glazing bar casement above. The attic has a gabled dormer that was reglazed in the late 20th century. The northern extension has a wood mullioned window on its east side. The porch displays a coped gable with kneelers, ball finials and a central cross. It has a segment-headed rebated doorway with double doors and a renewed 6/6 sash above.

Interior features are substantial. The cross passage contains two 19th-century doors to the west and a 18th-century round-headed double door into the hall to the east. Segment-headed doors are present in the central partition and at the north end.

The hall itself preserves five late 14th-century carved corbels and an 18th-century ceiling with aerial and cross beams. The west wall incorporates close studding and braces together with a crenellated beam that is believed to have supported a gallery. The roof structure was renewed in 1808 except for the filled west truss. The attic room beyond this at the west end of the main range contains a large stone fireplace, probably dating to the 17th century, where the medieval roof survives.

The west rear wing has 16th-century moulded ceiling beams at ground floor level, and a roof comprising A-frame trusses and a single crown post roof truss.

This building is of considerable architectural and historic interest, incorporating significant parts of a late 14th-century secular building which subsequently became Wisbech's town hall and grammar school following the Dissolution until the 19th century, with alterations and additions reflecting these successive uses.