The present grand entrance (the east wing of the south front), in "Hindoostani Gothic", was added in 1788 by George Dance (and restored in 1910).

It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation. The Guildhall complex houses the offices of the City of London Corporation (only the City; not greater London) and various public facilities. It is a town hall, not actually a guild building; perhaps from the Anglo-Saxon 'gild', meaning payment, with a "gild-hall" being where citizens would pay their taxes. Parts of the current building date from 1411, (with older medieval crypts) and it is the only stone building not belonging to the Church to have survived the Great Fire of London in 1666. The present grand entrance (the east wing of the south front), in "Hindoostani Gothic", was added in 1788 by George Dance (and restored in 1910).