Merchant Taylors Hall

Merchant Taylors' Hall is a significant building located on Threadneedle Street, dating from the late 17th century. It is arranged around a central paved garden, situated behind the main frontage buildings of Threadneedle Street and Cornhill. The entrance is located at No 32 Threadneedle Street, featuring an arched doorway flanked by a pair of Corinthian columns and piers, which support a broken segmental pediment adorned with a coat of arms. The building has been rebuilt after war damage by Sir Albert Richardson, incorporating 14th-century materials from the original hall within its walls.

To the west of the hall is the main staircase, also designed by Richardson. The west range has a late 17th-century brick elevation with a plain facade and recessed sash windows, while the interior has been completely refitted following war damage. The south and east ranges, which enclose the garden, were constructed in 1878-9 by l'Anson in a domestic Gothic style using Portland stone. These ranges are two storeys high with dormers in a slated roof.

To the east of the hall lies a late 14th-century crypt, which consists of two bays (with another bay to the north now destroyed) featuring a ribbed vault and carved corbels. There is a restored doorway at the south end of the crypt, which includes a kitchen to the south that dates from the early 15th century but has undergone alterations in the late 17th century, 19th century, and modern times. The crypt is a large, square space with additional buildings constructed above it. Where the walling is exposed, it shows rubble patched with brick. The north side features three large, four-centred archways, an arched doorway in the east wall, and blocked windows to the south and west. Moulded corbels that once supported roof timbers are also present, along with two large late 17th-century fireplaces and segmentally arched 17th-century windows on the north side. The site is scheduled as an ancient monument.