Boston Guildhall. Built in the 1390s, Boston Guildhall in Boston, Lincolnshire is a testament to the wealth and influence of the Guild of St. Mary, at a time when Boston's power as a centre of trade was second only to London. This wonderfully preserved building, with a wealth of original features, has survived the centuries and is to be enjoyed as one of Boston's finest visitor attractions.A wealth of stories, secrets and experiences are told and shared throughout the building including the history of the Guild of St Mary, international trade with the Hanseatic League, Henry VIII's dissolution of the Guild, the foundation of the Corporation of Boston and the very famous trial and imprisonment of the Pilgrim Fathers.The Guildhall is also home to the town's museum collection, bringing life to the stories told via displays and exhibitions. It is also available as a venue for civil ceremonies and private functions. It is a Grade I listed building. St. Mary's Guild, who built the Guildhall, became the richest and most prominent of Boston's Guilds. Its members included many of the town's merchants and traders at a time when the town itself was enjoying great prosperity. Guilds like those of St. Mary's were fundamentally religious in inspiration. It was accepted that life is but a passing phase and that Man's true destiny lies in the world to come. One of the Guild's foremost purposes was therefore to provide masses for the souls of their deceased members. The reply to the King's writ of enquiry of 1389 states that St. Mary's Guild was founded in 1260 by Andrew de Gote, Walter Tumby, Galfried de la Gotere, Robert Leland and Hugh Spayne. Its objectives included the maintaining of two priests in the parish church to say masses for the benefit of all members living and dead, to burn wax candles before the altar of the Blessed Virgin and to bear torches at the funerals of Guild members. A thousand loaves and a thousand herrings were to be distributed annually amongst the poor of the town. St. Mary's was open to anyone, male or female, who was prepared to take the strict oaths of admission and pay an initial fee of 6s 8d and an annual subscription of 1s. St. Mary's Guild played a prominent part in the rebuilding of the parish church. Its own chapel was located in a prime position inside the south aisle of the new St. Botolph's. The interior of St. Botolph's would have looked very different from today and the Guild's chapel would have been screened off and have had biblical scenes and representations of the saints painted on its walls. Some features of the old chapel are, however, still evident including a carved piscina, a sedilia and an aumbry. The Guild also appears to have founded a choir school which later developed into the Boston Grammar School. It is mentioned in 1329 that the school was looking for a master or tutor. The oldest of the present Grammar School buildings, though, dates from 1567. St Mary's Guild was incorporated in 1392 by licence from the Crown and this enabled it to hold land and property in perpetuity. Dendrochronology tests during the restoration of the building, 2002-2008, suggest that the Guild's hall was built almost immediately in response to this licence. During the medieval period most people were illiterate and relied on the clergy to interpret the word of God and tell them how to obtain salvation. Guarantees of such salvation came to be linked to bequests of money, land and property. Numerous gifts were made to St. Mary's. Thus for example, in 1393 Margaret Tilney gave a house and land on the east of the river and in 1447 Richard Benyon and others gave five dwellings, thirty-one acres of land and ten acres of pasture in Boston and Skirbeck. The increasing popularity of the Guild not only encouraged many such gifts but grew further as a result of indulgences that it was able to secure in the 15th and early 16th Centuries from respective Popes. These ranged from 100 days remission from penance for all guild members who were present whenever mass was celebrated aloud, with music, in the chapel in St. Botolph's at Easter, Whitsun, etc. These indulgences clearly made the Guild more attractive to would-be members. By the beginning of the 16th century St. Mary's Guild was both influential and prosperous and counted many of the town's most important citizens amongst its members. During the 1520s it even achieved a measure of national fame through the choir it supported at St. Botolph's and its connection with John Taverner. Taverner, a well-known composer, came to Boston late in his life and there is a memorial stone to him under the tower of the parish church.