The Rooms

Explore our building

Entrance Hall

Stepping in from the street, the visitor steps back to the 13th century, entering by the original doorway of Britain’s oldest civic building.

Built in 1220, The Guildhall was provided for the people as a meeting place, a community chamber and a public facility and has always been in the control of the governing bodies of the town. It marks a beginning of Bury St Edmunds as a secular community distinct from the Abbey’s control.

Banqueting Hall

This stunning room, designed in 1806 as an elegant Assembly Room for the town has been used as a council meeting room, a library, a dance hall, and as its name suggests, for civic banquets.

Its graceful plaster ceiling and elegant chandeliers mask the original medieval beams above.


Observer Corps Centre

Formerly the chamber where the Town Council met, the room was set up in 1938 for use during WW2 and became the Royal Observer Corps Centre, protecting Suffolk and relaying vital messages to RAF crews at local air bases.

It is the only surviving ROC centre in the country and resonates with the buzz and tension of that dramatic era.


Court Room

The setting for trials and courtroom dramas in Bury St Edmunds for nearly 700 years.

This room was panelled and fitted out in the early 19th century, and was in continuous use from 1280 until 1974.

The Tudor Kitchen

Part of the refurbishment of the Guildhall during the 16th century.

The two fireplaces and bread-oven are reminders that the Guildhall has been used for community feasting and private events for more than 400 years.