The Guildhall is a Grade I listed building in Church Street, Harwich.

It is now the home of Harwich Town Council and was formerly home to the Borough Council – having originally been purchased in 1673 and undergoing a major upgrade in 1769.

Prior to 1673 the building was an inn called the Bear but it hadn't been so for long and prior to that the site was a house which probably underwent a complete rebuild between 1647 and 1653.

Today you can still see the fabric of the mid C17 property and subsequent phases culminating in the grand C19 Council Chamber.

Prior to 1603 there was a house on the site which was owned by Roger and Susan Cowper (Cooper) and it was occupied by the vicar, Hugh Branham. Roger Cowper was a noted Harwich mariner and when he died in 1603 he left the house to Susan for life and then to be divided between his children Thomas, William, Roger and Elizabeth.

Robert Russell, another Harwich mariner, acquired the house at some stage from Susan Cowper and sold it back to Thomas Cowper, the son of Roger Cowper, in 1623 for £100. Thomas Cowper had married Christian Barker in Harwich in 1611 before moving to Wapping.

At some point after 1623 Peter Cooper acquires the house before selling it on in 1647 to Anthony Myeris.

Anthony Myeris bought the building in 1647 and sold it to John Lambert in 1653.

John Lambert bought the property in 1653, it passed to David Lambert and he then sold it to John and Christian Browne in 1665.

John and Christian Browne bought the building in 1665 and sold it to the Corporation of Harwich in 1673.

This period represents the early days of the Town Hall. Before that time the mayor and burgesses met in various inns in the town – eventually purchasing one of them. The town gaol was probably located in part of the cellar – a heavy-duty door frame is still in place today and a piece of panelling now fixed to the floor carries French graffiti from early C18. The gaol was later moved to a rear extension and exposed panelling, discovered during refurbishment work in the 1970s carries more prisoner graffiti.

The building underwent a major upgrade in 1769, creating, broadly the building we see today. The building was re-fronted, extended to the rear and internally reapportioned to create the large council chamber on the first floor with Mayor's parlour and a sweeping staircase. The second floor now houses the town archive but was once accommodation – lately the caretaker's flat.