Tunsgate Arch

During the second half of the 16th century and into the 17th century, corn merchants conducted their trade on the ground floor off the Guildhall. This arrangement ceased in 1626, when trading moved to a space covered by a wooden canopy on the south side of the High Street, in front of the Three Tuns Inn. In the early 19th century, civic leaders decided to demolish the Three Tuns Inn and to commission a more substantial structure, which would accommodate the corn market and the court of assizes, on the same site. The new building was designed by Henry Garling in the neoclassical style, built in Portland stone and was completed in 1818. The design featured a large portico with four Tuscan…