It will also be home to a Landmark Trust holiday let in the Mayor’s Parlour, a café in the Victorian gaol cells and serve as a public space and events and wedding venue.
History
The Maison Dieu was founded in 1203 by Hubert de Burgh, the then Constable of Dover Castle, Earl of Kent and Justiciar of England, to provide hospitality for pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury, and for the care of wounded and destitute soldiers.
In the eight centuries since, the hall has fulfilled many and diverse functions – from a military store to a council chamber, a gaol to a concert hall and from 1949 to 1989 it housed Dover Museum.
In 1899, Guglielmo Marconi’s wireless (radio) technology was successfully demonstrated in front of a packed audience, with the first Cross-Channel radio message transmitted to France via a tall mast erected on the Maison Dieu’s medieval tower.
What's inside?
The grand Stone Hall was built in about 1300. It was designed to impress with a lofty ceiling and windows. Monarchs used it as a meeting place and the royal household lodged here when the King was at Dover Castle. Today, it houses an impressive collection of arms and armour and some fine paintings. Huge stained-glass windows depict notable historic events.
A Council Chamber was added to the building in the 1860s. The stained-glass windows depict kings and noblemen and there is a rare sun burner in the middle of the ceiling. This once provided gas illumination to the chamber with a vent to the roof allowing fumes to escape.
The Mayor's Parlour was designed by William Burges in the neo-Gothic style and include an impressive painted ceiling with stencilled birds and flowers and animal designs around the walls. This will be available as a Landmark Trust holiday let.
The Connaught Hall, designed by Victorian architects Ambrose Poynter and William Burges, was built as an assembly room and opened in 1883. It used for a wide range of events, from dances and concerts to election counts, beer festivals and wrestling bouts.
The two rare sun burners in the ceiling were an early form of air conditioning, helping circulate fresh air by the means of convection.