Former Town Hall

The former Town Hall, now vacant, was built between 1890 and 1892 and designed by James Garry of West Hartlepool in a free Renaissance style. The building is constructed of red brick with ashlar dressings and slate roofs, with four stacks.

The south front has five windows arranged over two storeys, with a moulded first-floor band. A central round-headed ashlar entrance is topped by wrought iron gates and inner glazed double doors within a wooden pilaster surround, incorporating side lights and a large fanlight. An ashlar surround to the entrance features bell brackets supporting a balcony above. Flanking the entrance are two two-light ashlar mullion windows with plain sashes, and terracotta panels beneath, separated by banded pilaster strips. Above are five round-headed windows with pilasters, terracotta panels, coved ashlar capitals, moulded brick arches, and carved ashlar keystones, linked by a moulded band. Each window has a three-light casement with a stained-glass fanlight above. A dentilated cornice tops the building, leading into a brick parapet. A chamfered south-west corner front features a single two-light ashlar mullion window and a granite foundation stone below. Above is a canted oriel window with three casements and a central segmental pediment with terracotta panels, followed by a parapet and a square clock tower with chamfered corners. The clock tower’s front face features a carved datestone, a circular clock on each face, and above a keystone, cornice, and segmental leaded cupola with an ornate iron weather vane.

The north-west front, facing Railway Terrace, has two bays reflecting the design of the main front. To the left are four bays with a chamfered plinth, moulded first-floor band, and moulded brick eaves. A recessed round-headed doorway leads to a six-panel door, plain fanlight, and carved sprandels. To the left are a single and then two pairs of recessed plain sashes, with a further doorway converted into a window, followed by a single recessed plain sash. Above are four pairs of plain sashes with moulded brick aprons. Over the left-centre bay is a curved gable.

The interior entrance hall features a Minton tile floor and an arched opening to an ashlar circular staircase with an iron balustrade and a circular glazed dome. The former council chamber on the first floor retains an elaborate coved plaster ceiling, an elaborate plaster frieze, three sets of five round arches with pilasters, and three wooden Baroque doorcases. A later extension along Mandale Road is not considered to be of special architectural or historic interest.