London Art & Culture London Galleries Guildhall GalleryGuildhall Gallery
Guildhall is a district of the city which receives little tourist traffic, though in common with all other areas 
of the square mile - is heavily populated with office workers. Traditionally used as a town hall for the last few hundred years, it was the place where medieval Londoners paid their taxes ('Gild' is payment, in the Anglo-Saxon language).
Parts of the current building date from 1411 and aside from a select few church properties, it's the only stone building to have survived the Great Fire of London in 1666. The two giants Gog and Magog are asociated with the Guildhall and were allegedly defeated by Brutus of Troy, then chained to the gates of his palace which stood where the current Guildhall is located.
The Guildhall is the administrative headquarters for the Corporation of London and its modern offices are nearby in the square. The corporation acquired a substantial art collection which it has added to over the centuries. A gallery was built to house the collection in 1885, but it was destroyed during The Blitz in 1941. The artworks were moved to various locations for protection, with much of the collection put into storage.
The new Guildhall Gallery was completed in 1999, as a place to bring the separate pieces of the collection together again. Many had also sadly deteriorated while in storage (often with the stretcher removed and the canvas rolled up). All have been, or are in the process of being restored. The collection is composed of around 4,000 works, with 250 on display at any one time.
The Guildhall Gallery is free to enter all day on Fridays, when I visited. The older paintings are interesting enough, but it's the Victorian Collection which is most impressive. If you have in interest in the Pre-Raphaelites, then these paintings are the jewel in the Guildhall's crown. In the basement gallery, there are about 80 works, many of which, are highly significant, with pieces by Rosetti and Millais. Further below this gallery are the remains of London's Roman
amphitheatre. It was built around 70 AD (within 30 years of Rome's invasion of Britain) and was the largest in the country. The ragstone walls were added about 150 years later and it is a section of these walls and the arena entrance which is preserved below the streets. Gladiator games were rare in provinces as distant as Britain, but animal fighting and public executions would have been major draws to London's citizens. The Romans pulled out in the 4th century and the abandoned amphitheatre remained derelict for hundreds of years. The first Guildhall was built next to the amphitheatre in the 12th century. Although there was much evidence to support a Roman amphitheatre in the 19th and 20th century, it was only discovered when the new Guildhall Gallery was being built. Designs were altered to include the current display and if you stand in the square outside, the circumference of the original amphitheatre is clearly marked. After the forum, it was London's largest structure. The amphitheatre has an atmoshphere, which its age, the ambient sounds (of gladiatorial battles), musty smell and thousands of violent deaths - all contribute to. I spent five minutes alone down there - and never felt truly alone.
Only a dozen visitors or so, passed me that morning, despite the gallery being free all day. Try to fit the gallery and amphitheatre into a visit if you can. You'll probably agree that they don't deserve to be forgotten.
Admission
Adults: £2.50
Children U16: Free
Entry is free for anyone living or working in the area (with proof of address) and all day Friday.
Free tours of the gallery begin at 12.15pm, 1.15pm, 2.15pm and 3.15pm.
Monday - Saturday: 10.00am - 5.00pm
Sunday: 12.00noon - 4.00pm
Last admissions are 30 minutes before the advertised closing time.
Guildhall Art Gallery & Roman London's Amphitheatre, Guildhall Yard, Gresham Street, London EC2V 5AE
Nearest Tube: Bank or St. Paul's.
