Market Hall

The Market Hall, now serving as the town hall, was constructed in 1796, with a later bell tower added in 1897. It is built of yellow brick with stone dressings and slate roofs. The building has two storeys and three bays, with the central bay projecting slightly and topped by a low pediment. A wide round-headed arch, resting on stone imposts, forms the central ground-floor entrance, flanked by narrower, similarly arched openings. These arches are closed by wooden grilles incorporating trellised centre rails. Above, a band runs across the facade, below a tripartite sash window with glazing bars, flanked by narrower sash windows with glazing bars. An oval cartouche above the windows bears the inscription 'Erected in the year 1796'. The building is characterised by dentilled eaves and raked cornices formed of bricks on their edges. The pediment’s centre features another oval cartouche decorated with a floral motif. The roof is hipped. The bell tower is four-sided, featuring a clock face on three sides and a painted inscription on the fourth. Above that is an open octagonal belfry with round-headed openings and an impost band. The tower is crowned by a dentilled cornice, baroque dome, ball finial, and weather-vane. Inside, the first-floor meeting room has a dado rail and a deeply coved ceiling.