Boston Guildhall

South Street
Boston
Lincolnshire
PE21 6HT
England

Website

The Boston Guildhall's website

www.bostonguildhall.co.uk

Boston Borough Council

www.boston.gov.uk

Boston Guildhall Museum

www.twitter.com

Boston Guildhall Museum

www.facebook.co.uk

E-mail

Tourist Information

ticboston@boston.gov.uk

Collection information

collections@boston.gov.uk

Telephone

Reception

01205 365954

All information is drawn or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.
Boston Guildhall
Guided tours icon Shop icon Visual disability facilities icon Wheelchair access icon

Boston's Guildhall of St. Mary is one of the oldest and most significant religious guildhalls in the country. First thought to have been built in the 15th Century, it was recently discovered during a restoration programme in 2008 that it was actually built during the 1390's making it one of the first Guildhalls ever built.

The building has had a long and varied history, from its beginnings as a religious guildhall, then as a town hall, a Museum and also as a British restaurant during World War II. The Pilgrim Fathers were also tried and held in the prison cells.

In 1515, St Mary's Guild spent a princely £20 on a single feast that they celebrated in the banqueting hall. In today's money this is more than £9,500. Quite a contrast to the 1 shilling that it cost to have a meal at the British Restaurant in the Guildhall in 1943 - the modern equivalent of this is only £1.30!

The building consists of a chapel, banqueting hall, court room, council chamber, buttery, kitchen and cell area. Bostons Tourist Information Centre is in the Guildhall and the building is available for civil wedding ceremonies.

Come and discover 600 years of history at the Boston Guildhall!

Venue Type:

Museum, Sacred space, Heritage site

 Opening hours

Wednesday - Saturday, 10.30am - 3.30pm

 Admission charges

Free Entry

 Getting there

By road:
From the West and South follow the signs for Boston town centre using West Street or High Street to reach the Market Place. At the Market Place follow the one way system along South Street and Boston Guildhall is on your left.

From the North and East follow the A16 along John Adams Way. At the 2nd roundabout take the 3rd exit back onto the A16. Go straight on at the lights and take the first left onto Quacker Lane. Turn left onto Spain Lane and left again onto South Street. Boston Guildhall is on your left.

By train: The nearest station is Boston train station. Exit the station towards the town centre and follow the signage to Boston Guildhall.

By bus: Boston is on the bus route from Lincoln, Skegness, Spalding.

For more information on train and bus time tables please call 01205 365954

Includes items relating to the history of Boston Guildhall.
Items include: Original inventory of the Guildhall mid-sixteenth Century (which is 9 feet long), portrait of Sir Joseph Banks, Corporation Regalia, Charter signed by King Henry 8th, original printing of Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
Sounds of a busy kitchen of the 18th Century and audio re-enactment of banqueting through the ages. Autobiographical account by William Bradford of the Pilgrim Fathers arrest whilst trying to escape to Holland. Audio-visual accounts of real cases and crimes that were tried in the Guildhall.

Collection details

Architecture, Archives, Coins and Medals, Law and Order, Personalities, Religion, Social History, Weapons and War

Key artists and exhibits

  • Sir Joseph Banks
  • Pilgrim Fathers
  • William Bradford
  • John Foxe
  • Guild of St. Mary
  • History of Boston
  • Gold Noble
  • Guildhall Inventory
  • British Restaurant
Resources listed here may include websites, bookable tours and workshops, books, loan boxes and more. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all.
 Boxes, objects and other kit

Handling Loans boxes

We will be putting together handling loans boxes, covering various periods from Pre-historic flints and hand axes to the Victorians.
If there is a loans box that will aid you in teaching please tell us and we will endeavour to meet your needs and request.

Creator

  • Alison Naylor

How to obtain

Contact Alison Naylor, Education and Access Officer to organise a group visit, on 01205 314440, or email: alison.naylor@boston.gov.uk
Cost: Please contact Alison Naylor for costs of handling boxes

 Face to face resources

Rampaging Romans

Facilitator lead session. Groups of no more than 30 children at one time. The Children will have an opportunity to meet a costumed Roman Character either Flarvia or Quintus Neros.
Elements of the session include:
*Finding our about life in Roman Britain and Lincolnshire
*Discovering about the hygeine and health of the Romans, their diet and their homes
*Hearing tales of the rebellious red headed Queen Boudicca and the fear she brought to Romans across England
*The opportunity to handle replica and original artefacts.
Supports QCA history units: 2, 6a and 18

Creator

  • Alison Naylor

How to obtain

Contact Alison Naylor, Education and Access Officer to organise a group visit, on 01205 314440, or email: alison.naylor@boston.gov.uk
Cost: For teacher lead session: £1.50 per child
Facilitator/Interpreter lead session: £3.00 per child (this session is subject to a minimum charge of £65.00
Accompanying Adults are free

Shhh, Mums the Word (Don't mention the War) - World War II

Facilitator lead session for groups of no more than 30 Children at one time.
The Children will have an opportunity to 'meet' a WWII Lincolnshire character and find out what life was like in this predominantly agricultural county.
Elements of the session include:
*Meeting a WWII character and find out what life was like living in War Time Lincolnshire
*Finding out about rationing and cooking, 'Make do and mend' and 'Digging for Victory'
*Hearing tales about evacuees and understand what it must have been like to be evacutated
*Investigating an evacuee's suitcase and handling replica and original objects from the war.
There is opportunity to ask the character questions about their life and t

Creator

  • Alison Naylor

How to obtain

Contact: Alison Naylor, Education and Access Officer to organise a group visit, on 01205 314440, or email: alison.naylor@boston.gov.uk
Cost: Teacher lead session: £1.50 per child
Facilitator/Interpreter lead session: £3.00 per child (this session is subject to a minimum charge of £65.00
Accompanying Adults are free

 Paper-based and downloads

Discovering the Guildhall

Facilitator lead session.
Groups of no more than 30 children.
The event enables the children to discover the origin, development & usage of Boston Guildhall and its local context through time.
Elements of the session include:
*A Guided tour through the Boston Guildhall and its story
*Discovering who Boston Guildhall was built for
*Seeing how the Guildhall was built
*Eating, drinking and feasting; cooking, crime and punishment and local trade
*Learning about its changes in use over time
*The opportunity to handle replica and original artefacts
Supporting QCA history units: 2, 7, 8 & 18

Creator

  • Alison Naylor

How to obtain

Contact Alison Naylor, Education and Access Officer to organise a group visit, on 01205 314440, or email: alison.naylor@boston.gov.uk
Cost: For teacher lead session: £1.50 per child
Facilitator/Interpreter lead session: £3.00 per child (this session is subject to a minimum charge of £65.00
Accompanying Adults are free

Uncovering the truth of the Guildhall

This is a Teacher Lead session.
Includes: Trail of the Guildhall - allows you and your class to explore the Guildhall in a way which suits you. Guildhall trail and an optional eye spy challenge enables you and your group to uncover the fascinating history of Boston Guildhall.
Elements of the trail include:
*Discovering who Boston Guildhall was built for
*Seeing how the Guildhall was built
*Eating, drinking and feasting; Cooking, Crime and Punishment and Local Trade
*Learning about its changes in use over time
supports QCA history units: 2, 7, 8 and 18

Creator

  • Alison Naylor

How to obtain

Contact Alison Naylor, Education and Access Officer to organise a group visit, on 01205 314440, or email: alison.naylor@boston.gov.uk
Cost: For teacher lead session: £1.50 per child
Facilitator/Interpreter lead session: £3.00 per child (this session is subject to a minimum charge of £65.00
Accompanying Adults are free

Veronica Littleworth - A Victorian Maid

Facilitator lead session. Groups of no more than 30 children at one time.
Children have an opportunity to meet Veronica Littleworth Victorian Maid in the Kitchen of the Guildhall. Learn about her chores and her daily routine.
Elements of the session include:
*Meeting a Victorian Servant
*Learning how children may have entered the service of a large household and comparing this to the alternatives
*Discovering the development of Boston and local society during the Victorian period
*The opportunity to handle replica and original artefacts
Supporting QCA history units 11 and 12

Creator

  • Alison Naylor

How to obtain

Contact Alison Naylor, Education and Access Officer to organise a group visit, on 01205 314440, or email: alison.naylor@boston.gov.uk
Cost: For teacher lead session: £1.50 per child
Facilitator/Interpreter lead session: £3.00 per child (this session is subject to a minimum charge of £65.00
Accompanying Adults are free

Who would want to be a Tudor?

Facilitator Lead Session, groups of no more than 30 children at one time. This is a chance for the children to compare the lives of the rich and poor in Tudor period.
Elements of the session include:
*Meeting a real life Gentry Tudor and a Tudor Peasant
*Learning about the reformation and what happened to St Mary's Guildhall During this time
*Discovering what life was like for a Gentry Tudor and a Peasant with Henry VIII on the throne
*The opportunity to handle replica and orginial artefacts
Supports the QCA History Units: 2, 7, 8 and 18

Creator

  • Alison Naylor

How to obtain

Contact Alison Naylor, Education and Access Officer to organise a group visit, on 01205 314440, or email: alison.naylor@boston.gov.uk
Cost: For teacher lead session: £1.50 per child
Facilitator/Interpreter lead session: £3.00 per child (this session is subject to a minimum charge of £65.00
Accompanying Adults are free

Getting there

By road:
From the West and South follow the signs for Boston town centre using West Street or High Street to reach the Market Place. At the Market Place follow the one way system along South Street and Boston Guildhall is on your left.

From the North and East follow the A16 along John Adams Way. At the 2nd roundabout take the 3rd exit back onto the A16. Go straight on at the lights and take the first left onto Quacker Lane. Turn left onto Spain Lane and left again onto South Street. Boston Guildhall is on your left.

By train: The nearest station is Boston train station. Exit the station towards the town centre and follow the signage to Boston Guildhall.

By bus: Boston is on the bus route from Lincoln, Skegness, Spalding.

For more information on train and bus time tables please call 01205 365954

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