Lincoln’s Assembly Rooms

In this article from The Survey of Lincoln, Andrew Walker examines a long-established social venue on Bailgate.

Lincoln’s surviving assembly rooms is one of two which served the city from the mid-18th century until the early decades of the 20th century. The Assembly Rooms on Bailgate, still the site of lively social engagements today, was for many years known as the County Assembly Rooms to distinguish it from the City Assembly Rooms, which was located in a notoriously chilly space immediately above the Butter Market, situated on the High Street, near its junction with Silver Street. 

Although the Butter Market no longer exists, its façade was relocated and became the front of a new Central Market, opened in 1938 in what is now City Square.

In contrast to the City Assembly Rooms, which served the needs of Lincoln itself, the County Assembly Rooms, was financed through subscriptions, gathered principally from the county’s landed families. Lincolnshire’s Lord Lieutenant, the third Duke of Ancaster, entered into a contract to build it on behalf of the county elite. 

It was constructed in 1744 by Abraham Hayward, a local builder, who had built Disney Place on Eastgate eight years earlier. The subscribers were able to attend functions in the Assembly Rooms free of charge from its opening in 1745 until 1787, when Sir Joseph Banks persuaded them to pay to raise much-needed income.

During the 18th century, many mid-ranking towns became important cultural centres. In order to meet the needs of the landed classes and urban ruling elites for recreation and culture many towns built, or extended, racecourses, theatres and meeting places, such as assembly rooms. Lincoln’s was amongst the first major assembly rooms to appear, succeeding the building at York, constructed in 1732, but preceding the Bath Assembly Rooms, opened in 1771. 

The building’s grand Georgian interior served as an impressive backdrop for social occasions, such as the various balls which punctuated the county calendar. The annual event with which Lincoln’s County Assembly Rooms became particularly associated was the Lincolnshire Stuff Ball. This attracted many members of the county’s landed families and had been initiated to encourage the use of Lincolnshire-made woollens, at a time when the county’s textile industry was struggling. 

Originally, no female guest was to be admitted to the ball who did not wear a dress verified as being made of Lincolnshire wool (known as ‘stuff’). Each year, a different colour theme was used to encourage the purchase of new gowns. The Stuff (or Colour) Ball was held annually until 1938.

In addition to being the site of many social functions, the County Assembly Rooms has also accommodated a wide variety of cultural, educational and political events. Arguably the venue was home to Lincoln’s first rock concert – in December 1844 when Richardson’s Rock Band performed with instruments cut out of rock.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, since its construction in 1744, the County Assembly Rooms has undergone a series of refurbishments and extensions, including recently. By 1825 it was reported to be in a ‘dilapidated state’ and money was raised for substantial improvements. In 1892 and 1908 considerable internal alterations were made, enhancing the facilities, undertaken by the Lincoln architect William Watkins. 

The most major change, though, occurred in 1914 when the courtyard in front of the Assembly Rooms, used by carriages for guests’ dramatic entrances, was built over, in order to accommodate a substantial new extension which considerably added to the building’s internal space, but is unlikely to have helped traffic flow on Bailgate.

To find out more about The Survey of Lincoln and its work, see www.thesurveyoflincoln.co.uk.