History of the Guildhall
Cardigan Guildhall and Market hall have a fascinating history, both on the architectural and social history fronts. The buildings, commissioned in 1856, would have been regarded as ultra modern and quite daring at the time. This was the first civic building in Britain in the ‘modern Gothic’ style advocated by John Ruskin in his ‘The Stones of Venice‘ of 1851-3 and included an Arabic influence, clearly seen in the arch decoration in both buildings. The national interest in the design was reflected at the time by the illustration in The Building News of 1859. (see above) and is still noted as an exceptional rarity in the context of Gothic public buildings by experts in Victorian architecture.
The original design didn’t include the clock tower, a later addition. The chimney on the left was later removed.
![[:en]Welsh European Funding Office](http://www.guildhall-cardigan.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/wales-european-funding.png "[:en]Welsh European Funding Office")