The town hall in early modern England was the seat of civic government and the architectural embodiment of power, authority, and legitimacy in the community. Tittler's imaginatively conceived and wide-ranging study, based on extensive research in local record, explores the town hall and its role in civic culture and urban life. The multi-disciplinary approach of this book generates architectural, anthropological, literary, and historical insights into politics and society in England's provincial towns in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Tittler explores the connection between the boom in town hall building in this period and the cultural and political evolution of the provincial urban community. From the function of decorations and furnishings to the political activities and self-image of the urban elite, every aspect of the town hall and its place in civic culture is rigorously examined.