The Yelde Hall And The Council Chamber

The Yelde Hall and The Council Chamber, formerly known as The Old Fire Station, is a town hall located in Chippenham. It dates back to the early 15th century and was re-roofed and renewed in 1614. The building features a large panel timber frame with irregularly spaced uprights and various tension braces, set on a limestone rubble base with freestone quoins and dressings, topped with a stone slate roof.

The structure has a five-bay plan, with an entry leading to a four-bay open hall and a storeyed end bay. The exterior is two storeys high with a one-window range. On the east facade, to the inside-right, there are two small gables; the gable above the door displays a plaster coat of arms with the initials J.S. and the date 1776. To the far right, an ashlar wall encloses a small lock-up yard, featuring an arched niche with a hoodmould and dog-tooth coping along the cornice. The north wall, which is 16th-century rubblestone, replaces the original frame at the ground floor and includes two segmental arched openings below a horizontal sliding sash window with 15 panes in each sash. This rubblestone wall continues around to the west side for approximately 3 meters, where a loophole is visible at the top. The timber frame steps down to the plinth, and windows on the west wall have been removed.

Inside, the building has a four-bay collar-truss tie-beam hall roof with two tiers of windbraces, with a similar fifth bay to the north. At the north end on the upper floor is the former courtroom and council chamber, which includes panelling and a bailiff's chair. Beneath this area was the blind house or lock-up. Historically, before 1580, when The Shambles was built, the hall stood alone in the market place. Records indicate the existence of a blind house in the 16th century (1563) and accounts for renovations made in 1614. The Yelde Hall is a notable example of its type, distinguished by the retention of its large-panelled timber framing and the first-floor council chamber.