Drapers' Hall

Drapers' Hall comprises a group of buildings dating primarily to the 19th century, likely incorporating earlier fabric. Much of the work was undertaken by Herbert Williams between 1866 and 1870. The building presents as three separate frontages.

At the eastern end is a stone facade with three storeys and a mansard roof. The two-bay front features granite on the ground floor with two segmental-headed windows and flanking doors. The first floor has a segmental pediment over the central window, while the second-floor windows are round-headed with a cornice resting on thin consoles. A Baroque stone facade, two main storeys high, screens the apsed end of the Hall from the street; it is three bays wide and features channelled stonework. The main entrance is under an open pediment supported by consoles with angel masks. The first floor has modified Composite pilasters between round-headed windows with bold open pediments on consoles, the central one being segmental. It includes an entablature and balustrade.

A third section, eight bays wide and asymmetrical, extends over Throgmorton Avenue. The ground floor contains shops with offices above, featuring a mezzanine with contrasting granite orders. The upper storeys are of finely painted red brick with stone windows of varying forms, including shallow bays. An entablature carries pediments to each bay. The eastern part of the facade has two attic storeys. An archway over Throgmorton Avenue reveals an ornate four-storey rear elevation with stone friezes. This section incorporates a fine 17th-century style entrance doorway of carved Portland stone, featuring two large male figures carrying a full entablature with a pulvinated frieze and an open pediment displaying sculpted arms. A return elevation to Throgmorton Avenue includes a red brick staircase wing, dated 1898, with stone windows and a giant segmental pediment, alongside a stuccoed block with blank round-head recesses and a modillion cornice with a blocking course.

Inside, a large mid-19th century courtyard is of distinguished classical style, featuring Portland stone, a cloisters which is now enclosed, and an order of Ionic pilasters to the upper floor with a row of arched windows above to the east and west, surmounted by a balustrade. A magnificent suite of state rooms is present, featuring rich plaster decoration. A very large hall is notable for its marble Corinthian columns on pedestals, supporting a balcony, and a compartmented ceiling with paintings by Herbert Draper (circa 1905-10), a apsed south end. The staircase is enriched with marble and alabaster. A stuccoed north range contains a court dining room.