Former Withington Town Hall

The former Withington Town Hall, probably built around 1880 to 1890, originally served as offices for the local Board of Health, later becoming the Urban District Council. It's a good example of a modest late 19th-century civic building representing a key period in local government development.

The building is rectangular, formed of an entrance block, a rear block, and a connecting range, all set at right angles to the street. It is constructed of buff brick with red brick and red terracotta dressings, topped with a slate roof. The design is symmetrical with a banded red brick plinth and red brick pilasters, banded at the first floor. A pierced parapet features urn finials and a central clock turret.

The front features a round-headed doorway with a terracotta architrave containing fluted pilasters, rusticated voussoirs with a scrolled keystone, and an enriched pediment on scrolled consoles. Either side of the doorway are two windows in each bay. The first floor has large elliptical-arched windows with similar pilasters and terracotta heads and keystones, containing tripartite sash windows with coloured small-paned heads. Above the central bay is a gable featuring a terracotta roundel with a shield and console supporters, set beneath a semi-circular band with raised lettering reading "LOCAL BOARD OFFICES". Behind this is a short, pyramidal turret supporting a square clock with a swept, copper-clad fleche finished with a weathervane. The gable walls mirror the front, with a large elliptical-arched window on the left at first floor level, and shaped gables with enriched triangular pediments of red terracotta on both sides. Lower, simpler ranges extend to the rear, using similar materials.

Inside, a large open-well staircase has ornamental cast-iron balusters, and the first-floor features an assembly hall.