A VIRTUAL tour of a historic guildhall has been created by a filmmaker to promote the history and heritage of Harwich.

With this weekend marking National Heritage Weekend, Harwich Town Council and the Harwich Society have made a virtual tour of the town's famous Guildhall.

The Guildhall, in Church Street, opposite St Nicholas' Church, is the oldest Grade I listed building in Harwich.

It was purchased by Harwich Town Council in 1673, and remains the meeting place and administrative home for the council to this day.

The Guildhall is normally open on National Heritage Weekend for the public to explore, but due to the coronavirus pandemic the hall remains closed until further notice.

So this year, local filmmaker David Webb and the Harwich Society’s vice chair and archivist, David Whittle, decided to work together with Harwich Town Council to create a ten minute virtual tour of the building.

The tour will be available to view via a link on Harwich Town Council's website at the weekend.

Mr Whittle said: “National Heritage Weekend is a very popular occasion in Historic Harwich and we didn’t want it to pass without something to promote the history and heritage of our wonderful town.

"This was a new venture and we hope it will allow people to gain a taste of why Harwich is such a popular place to visit.”

The basis of the virtual tour is a guide to the Guildhall recently published by the Harwich Society in conjunction with Harwich Town Council.

Harwich town councillor Pam Morrison, who was involved in producing the written guide and who chairs the committee responsible for the upkeep of the Guildhall, said: “The ten minute virtual tour of Harwich’s Guildhall is a wonderful addition to the council’s web site and David Webb and David Whittle have shown what makes Harwich’s Guildhall such a special building.

"I am very grateful to them for their work and I’m sure it will prove very popular.”

To find out more visit harwichtowncouncil.co.uk.