The first municipal building in Winchelsea was an ancient town hall in the Monday Market Square, just to the west of the
Greyfriars Monastery, which was completed in the late 13th century. The current building was commissioned as a private house for the Admiral of the
Cinque Ports Fleet,
Gervase Alard. It was designed in the
medieval style, built in
rubble masonry and was completed around the time that Alard became the first
mayor of the town in 1294. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage facing onto the High Street. The first two bays on the left on the ground floor and all three bays on the first floor were fenestrated by
mullioned windows. The right-hand bay contained an arched doorway with
voussoirs and, to the left of the doorway, there was a small tripartite window. The building was then held by subsequent bailiffs for the duration of their period in office. A
lock-up for the incarceration of petty criminals was established on the ground floor, and a courtroom, which featured a
crown post roof, was created on the first floor. The building was subsequently extended to the east, but that extension was demolished in 1666. Its right to elect
members of parliament was removed by the
Reform Act 1832. Despite objections from the local magistrates, the lock-up closed in 1879, and the ground floor was subsequently used as community event space. The borough council, which had met in the courtroom on the first floor, was abolished under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1883. The actress,
Dame Ellen Terry, established a stage school in the courtroom in the late 19th century. ==Museum==