Mercers' Hall

Mercers' Hall is a late 19th-century masonic hall that incorporates early 17th-century timber framing. This framing is believed to have been reused from a former market hall in Gloucester, and timbers reputedly from a barn. The exterior is brick, covered with roughcast render, and has a roof of interlocking cast-cement tiles with dormers. The building runs along Cross Keys Lane and Mercers’ Alley, with a canted angle at the corner.

The exterior is two storeys high, with a parapet and stone coping. The entrance doorway on the canted angle has a dressed stone surround, a shallow Tudor arch, and an eared hoodmould, which may be a reused feature. Double doors lead to an entrance lobby.

The lobby contains a late 19th-century staircase. To the north is a ground floor room, seven bays long and two bays wide, with a central row of timber posts supporting massive lateral and cross beams with run-out stops. Exposed joists are also present. The side and end walls incorporate reused 16th-century timbers. Between the bay posts on the side walls are curved tension braces and a high-level rail with three small panels above. The first-floor hall is entered from an upper lobby to the south. It is a seven-bay hall, with the south end bay screened off to create a passage, and features an open timber, double-framed roof. This roof has trusses with curved, chamfered, angle struts, through purlins, two tiers of wind braces, and exposed rafters. Three dormers on each side of the roof, in alternate bays, have flat lead roofs. Each dormer is framed in timber with six arched lights, now with blocked lead-light glazing. The walls are panelled in 20th-century timberwork designed to resemble 17th-century style.

The substantial size of the timbers in the roof, the first-floor framing, and the central row of supporting posts suggests they may all originate from the same building, supporting the tradition that this was the former Mercers' Hall. Accommodation on the east side of Mercers’ Alley, accessible via a gallery from the first-floor lobby, is not included as part of the listed building.