St. Anthony's Hall

St Anthony's Hall was built between 1446 and 1453 but there are several different accounts of who was responsible for founding it. The first date, 1446, is connected to a charter granted to a group of wealthy citizens of York, by Henry VI that licensed them to found a Guild of St Mary and St Martin. Most sources agree that the Hall was built by this Guild of St Martin, with no mention of a Guild of St Anthony being associated with the Hall at the time of its construction, and that the name of St Anthony was used for the Hall because of a chapel that had formally occupied the site. However, there is evidence for a Fraternity of St Anthony of York in the city as early 1438, so it is possible…

The Hall resembles the Merchant Adventurers' Hall in that it has two floors, of which the lower one consisted of a hospital and a chapel. In contrast to the Merchants' Hall, however, the walls of the lower floor are of stone (rather than brick) and the outer walls of the timber-framed upper floor were rebuilt in brick in the 17th century.