Town Hall, Ancillary Buildings And Former Police Station To Rear

The Town Hall, ancillary buildings, and former police station at the rear were constructed between 1868 and 1870 by John Johnstone. This substantial structure is built of ashlar with a Welsh slate roof and is designed in a neo-Romanesque style featuring various details. The building has two storeys and is composed of two, three, and two bays. The central block is taller and projects forward, with its bays framed by pilasters that support a heavy entablature adorned with an ornamental frieze and a modillion cornice. Above, there is a balustraded balcony with corner pedestals that hold urns (some of which are missing), and a central segmental pediment featuring allegorical figures, with a larger figure on a plinth above. The side sections have lower, hip-ended roofs and simpler entablatures also supported by pilasters.

The first floor features paired round-arched windows, with the central ones set in round-arched recesses that include oculi in their heads. The ground floor has paired segmental-headed windows, banded pilasters, and a rusticated plinth. The central entrance is round-arched and includes nook shafts and mouldings. The outer entrance bays are set back and have similar doorways, with the northern one accessed by a lone flight of steps due to the sloping hill.

The north return of the building has four bays in a similar style but includes a full basement storey. Attached to this is a mid-19th century Italianate ashlar building that is two storeys high with six bays; the left bay features a four-storey square tower with a corbel table on the second floor, deeply overhanging eaves, a pyramidal roof, and eccentrically placed stone chimneys. Beyond this is a later two-storey, three-window ashlar building of simpler design. The south return reveals a long rear part made of rubble, featuring round first-floor windows in raised surrounds. This section appears to be a much earlier building, possibly from the late 18th century, which was adapted and incorporated into the Town Hall complex.