Skinners Hall

Skinners’ Hall is a late 17th-century building, significantly altered, with a front range dating to the late 18th century. It is located on Dowgate Hill, and includes numbers 8 and 9 Cloak Lane. The front of the building has a distinguished painted façade with five windows, arranged over three storeys plus a slated mansard roof. The ground storey is rusticated and arcaded, with an order of four Ionic pilasters above, supporting an enriched frieze and a pediment featuring sculpture within the tympanum. An entrance is located on either side; the south entrance leads through a finely vaulted passage to a courtyard with decorative iron gates. Pairs of later 19th-century cast iron lamp standards flank each entrance. Number 9 is a plain, southward continuation in pinkish brick, dated 1779 on a lead rainwater head, with two windows and a round arched doorway. A dormer is present in the tiled mansard. The rear of the building is also in pinkish brick, with a painted cornice and parapet. The tiled roof includes two lead rainwater heads.

The courtyard is enclosed by a late 19th- and early 20th-century cloister of Portland stone on three sides, with an 18th-century railing set atop the boundary wall to the south. To the west is a hall, with a former kitchen to the north. This section is essentially late 17th-century in origin, built of red and black brick, with segmentally arched windows (mostly blocked), a painted cornice and parapet. It includes a richly carved arched doorcase with a segmental pediment and an ornamented window above with an iron balcony.

The interior of the hall was remodelled in the 19th century and later, incorporating wainscot, an enriched plaster ceiling, and screens that give access to a gallery above. The upper walls are decorated with a fine series of paintings by Sir Frank Brangwyn. A mid-19th-century vaulted corridor to the west features three tall reliefs by Anning Bell.

A rear wing contains a very fine original staircase, with walls altered in the 18th century and recently partially removed to open up an old Court room, largely of 20th-century construction. The most recent Court room on the first floor is an unusually fine, largely 17th-century room with cedar panelling and a relatively modern ceiling in an old style. A panelled committee room of the same date is located to the south. The exterior of this wing is of patched red brick with a parapet of yellow brick, featuring storey bands. Two 18th-century lead rainwater heads are also incorporated. A modern, arcaded screen-wall is located in front. A lower, irregular wing extends to the south, incorporating wine vaults beneath.

A north front to Cloak Lane, dating to the early 20th century, is constructed of red brick and Portland stone in a modified ‘Wren’ style, with three storeys plus a slated mansard. It has four windows and two arched openings to the ground storey, one featuring wooden gates and a coat of arms within an iron grille. A window and secondary door are centrally positioned and linked. A large modillion cornice and three dormers complete the elevation. The building is scheduled as an Ancient Monument.