Welcome to The Guildhall

FOLLOWING the positive feedback generated by the 10-week series Cathedral Tales, this week I am embarking on a new series on what the Guilhall has to offer visitors.

Those who believe there is nothing for them in the Cityside, will, hopefully, be plesantly surprised by just how relevant the Guildhall is to the history of the people who have made the Waterside their home. In addition, I hope that not only will Sentinel readers, like me, realise that the Guildhall is one of the most exquisite buildings in our City, but with Community Relations month looming, that you will be inspired to make the trip and enjoy the tour themselves.

If ever there was a good reason to celebrate the positive impact the Protestant people have had on this City, not least in the historical sense, then the Guildhall may well just the physical representation of that.

First stop: The Foyer

So lets get started. Most folk probably don't 'see' the Guildhall anymore because they see it so often, but the first thing my attention is drawn to are the ornate security gates and the huge studded double doors, but the first thing I wanted to talk about to my guide, Superintendent Colin Sharpe, is the impressive mosaic floor.

The floor you see used to be carried from the very first steps at the front door right through to the back doors.

"Sadly, in the bombing of 1972, the whole inside of the bottom floor of the Guildhall was devastated. As a consequence, this is only one of two sections of flooring now left," Colin explains.

"This is the original mosaic. It was the Italians who actually laid this back when the Guildhall was built and opened in 1887. The Italians came over and laid these floors, and the significant thing about this particular floor is that when they were laying the flooring the rest of the contractors, for want of a better word, were shipped out. They would not allow other people to watch them laying the floors."

Take a moment if you ever visit and really enjoy the intricacy of what is left of the flooring. It's amazing to think that any of it survived to this day when you finally appreciate how delicate it is. The other remaining section of the flooring is up on the main staircase.

One of the main attractions of the Guildhall is it's stained glass windows, and at the Guildhall there is the ancient, the modern and the restored.

The first windows you encounter as you enter the Guildhall, are on the right in the foyer, and are the first in a series celebrating the London companies that paid for the foundation of Londonderry.

"The Guildhall was built back i 1887 by the Guilds of London, hence the name, and they were crafts companies and this one here," Colin says, directing my eye: "This is the Glaziers window with the Coat of Arms of the Glaziers of London, and here is the Coat of Arms of the Musicians of London. There are 17 named Guilds of London and all their Coats of Arms are scattered throughout the Guidlhall."

Facing you as you go through the door is a huge memorial stone embedded in the wall. Erected by Sir Alfred Newton, Bart, Governor of the Honourable the Irish Society, to commemorate the gift by that body of the Guildhall to the citizens of Londonderry in 1890. The original hall was destroyed by fire in 1908 and was subsequently restored at the expense of the Society the following year, and reopened in 1912.

"This is the foundation stone laid by Sir Alfred Newton, and this is a list of the old Corporation, starting with the Mayor, John McFarland, JP, Alderman, and a list of the Irish Society members of the time," Colin tells me.

I'm a bit of a details freak, so if you visit the Guildhall take a look at the stone. A close enough look will make you realise that it is made of a variety of different colours of sandstone, and all of it came from Dunfries in Scotland. Above the carved stone sit the Coats of Arms of the Society and the City, and they are topped by a carved harp and the City Coat of Arms.

If you stand back and admire the windows and most of the carvings in wood and stone that you see int eh Guildhall, you will see a number of repeating themes, most notably are the oak leaf and the acorn.

For those who don't know, the anciant Irish name 'Doire' means the oak grove.

Just beyond the double doors at the ante-room to the hallway, is the most modern window, with two very distinct aspects celebrating the two main cultures in the City, and, I must say, looking out through the window on a sunny day, you are immediately struck by the intense red of the poppies. Take time to study the window and you will find the names of the dead from Bloody Sunday, the Star of David, barbed wire, a dove, a butterfly, fire and water, a newspaper, military motifs, music notes, depictions of bereavement and of ressurection. There also appears to be a little snippet of braille.

"They debated this window in the chamber for quite some time, and different artists were asked to put in drawings to commemorate all the people killed in the area, and this is the one that was picked out. It is by a fellow called P G Rooney from Dublin. We are limited in our information on this particular window," Colin admits.