Hall, the large principal apartment of the castles and mansions of the middle ages. The hall is of very ancient origin. The earliest Saxon buildings we have any record of are the palaces of the kings, and these seem to have consisted of one large hall, in which the king, his courtiers or 'hearth-men,' and all his retainers dwelt together, eating at the same table, and sitting round the same fire; and one other chamber, in which the king and his hearth-men slept, while his retainers slept in the hall. In the Norman keep the hall occupied the whole of the first floor—the private apartment of the lord of the castle being on the floor above. In the 12th century halls of a more commodious kind came to be erected in the court-yards of the castles, with the private apartments at one end and the kitchen offices at the other. The same arrangement prevailed, with slight modifications, during the 12th and 13th centuries. In the 14th and 15th centuries, when England was more settled and prosperous, and manners more refined, numerous apartments became necessary. The hall, however, still retained its place as the chief apartment. In it the king or the lord of the manor gave audience, administered justice, received and entertained his retainers and guests, and performed all the public acts of feudal life.
At one end of the hall was a raised platform or dais, on which the table of the lord of the manor was placed, and where his more honoured guests sat along with him. This end of the hall was usually lighted with large oriel windows, and communicated with a building which contained the lord's solar, or bedroom and parlour, on the upper floor, and the wine-cellar below. The retainers sat at a table which ran along the lower part of the hall. This part was not always in the cleanest and sweetest condition, and hence it received the name of 'the marsh.' The entrance porch was at the lower end of the hall, where also a passage was cut off by a screen. This passage gave access to the kitchen, pantry, and buttery, and above the passage a gallery for musicians was frequently constructed. Survivals of such medieval dining-halls may be found in the Oxford and Cambridge colleges, with their high tables, portraits, stained glass, &c., as also in the halls of the Inns of Court and of some of the London gilds.
The hall partook of the style of architecture prevailing at the time when it was built, and being a large and important apartment was generally ornamental in its character. The roofs especially were very carefully and elegantly constructed, as many still remaining show. The hall was essentially a part of feudal architecture. When that system gave way, the large common halls were abandoned and private dining-rooms substituted. Many old ones, however, still remain; but their use is changed. The hall of the king's palace, now called 'Westminster Hall,' built by William Rufus, and restored by Richard II., is the finest example in England, being 300 feet long and 100 feet broad. See also MUNICIPAL ARCHITECTURE.