The Counting Houes

Purpose / Function

The Counting House is one of the oldest buildings in Bree, dating back to the Days of the Kings, when it served as the home of the King's local officials who assessed taxed and managed the roads in this region. It still serves Bree as a center of public finance where folk pay fees and the occasional tax levied for the maintenance of roads, bridges, and other such public works as the Bree-land can support. It also serves the town as a mint, where strange foreign coins can be melted down and changed into honest silver pennies (stamped with a many-rayed star for reasons no-one recalls).

Alterations

Town records record that flooding following the Fell Winter threatened to wash the earth from beneath the Counting House. The foundation was shored up by dragging pillars from the ruins in the lands around Bree-hill and using them as footing for the main floor of the hall. This has resulted in a strange and - so the Bree-folk say - rather grand appearance, though the now raised main floor gets rather drafty when the wind blows among the pillars. This is no impediment, say the Bree-folk, as it serves to keep Council Meetings short and to the point.

Architecture

The Counting House is made up of a central hall with a peaked roof and two wings, one of which serves as the town mint. The main hall has a dais with five seats, one for the Reeve and one for each of the Councilors. The Reeve's seat is on the highest step with the others just below it. This arrangement is a function of the construction of the room rather than an special reverence for the Reeve, and the Councilors' seats rotate in position so that no town can feel slighted.

Type

Manor house / Meeting hall

Parent Location

Bree