The 17th-c. Staffordshire shire hall served as the mayor’s office and a meeting place for the county quarter sessions.
There is no extant information on the materials or design of the original medieval hall, located on the N side of the market square at the corner of Greengate Street, but by the 1280s, the building was in use as a site of civic government. The hall was rebuilt in the middle of Market Square in 1607 with 2 storeys: an open ground floor and an upper floor supported by a colonnade.
The early 17th-c. hall was the probable location of performances by touring companies before the mayor and council.
Demolished at the end of the 18th c.
128x: Earliest known reference to the hall as a meeting place for the county court.
1468: A moot hall described as town property.
1482: Hall noted as the meeting place of the borough courts.
ca. 1580: Plans to rebuild the hall began, but difficulties securing financial resources impeded completion.
1607: Construction of the new hall in Market Square completed.
1617: Office for the mayor built under the town hall.
1736: Town clerk given permission to use the hall for corporation business.
by 1790s The hall had fallen into disrepair.
1794 The Stafford Shire Hall Act 1794 authorized the building of a new courthouse, designed by architect John Harvey.
1798: Construction of the new town hall completed.
1853-4: Construction of a new hall, at a new site on the W side of Market Square, began according to the design of Charles Trubshaw. Borough offices relocated to new hall.
1991: Old hall ceased to function as a court building. Building renovated to house an art gallery and exhibition centre.
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1609–10
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1610-11
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1611-12
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1612-13
Stafford, Thomas Worswicke's Book, 1614-15
Stafford, Thomas Worswicke's Book, 1615-16
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1618-19
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1619-20
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1620-1
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1621-2
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1622-3
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1626-7
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1627-8
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1629-30
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1631-2
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1632-3
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1633-4
Stafford, Bailiffs', Churchwardens', and Mayors' Accounts, 1634-5
