A Baroque county hall of 1678 to 1682, raised on open arches above Abingdon's market place and now the town's museum
Open to visitorsan English Heritage site — check opening times and admission before you go
Raised on open stone arches over Abingdon’s old market place, this Baroque hall let traders set out their stalls underneath while magistrates held court in the room above. It went up between 1678 and 1682, built in the local Oxfordshire limestone, at a time when Abingdon and Reading were rivals for recognition as the county town of Berkshire. Someone close to Sir Christopher Wren is thought to have drawn up the design, though it was built by two men Wren trusted and worked with often — the mason Christopher Kempster and the clerk of works John Scarborough.
The giant stone pillars rising through both storeys look like they belong on a temple rather than a market hall, a typically Baroque flourish for the period. The courtroom upstairs served for generations as the assizes, the periodic court that dealt with the county’s more serious criminal cases, and the building is now Abingdon’s museum, staffed and ticketed for visitors. There are good views back down over the market place from the rooftop.
The abbey that gave the town its start, Abingdon Abbey, is just south along the river, with the Thames Path running past on its way through the town.
