history
continued ...
The Master's House, (now a private residence) was built
by the Guild of St. George before 1400 and has been in continuous
use, first by the priests of the Guilds who celebrated Mass
in the Chapel, then by successive Guild Masters. Sometime
between 1386 and 1413, the Guild of St. George and the Guild
of The Holy Trinity and Blessed Virgin joined as the United
Guilds of Warwick and were housed at Westgate. The Great
Hall of King James (circa 1383), the largest of the buildings
erected by the United Guilds, was used as their public hall
for assemblies, feasts and other meetings.
A Guildhall was built by Neville the "Kingmaker" in about
1450 on the site of the ancient Anglo-Saxon Church of St.
James. The Guildhall was the private chamber of the United
Guilds and it was here that they met to conduct their business
in secrecy. When the Guilds were dispersed in 1546 by King
Henry VIII, the United Guilds were able to save their property
from sequestration through the foresight of their Master,
Thomas Oken, who had it conveyed to the Burgesses of Warwick,
(the original Borough Council).
In 1571, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leycester acquired the
buildings and founded a hospital for aged or infirm retainers
and their wives under a Charter from Queen Elizabeth I.
This Charter set up a Corporation consisting of the Master
and twelve Brethren, who had to be housed in the building.
These arrangements remained unchanged for nearly 400 years
until 1950 when the Guildhall was renovated and the number
of Brethren temporarily reduced to five.
