Town Hall

The Newark on Trent Town Hall, together with its former gaol, was constructed between 1774 and 1776 by John Carr of York. Later additions date from the late 18th century and the mid-19th century. The building was restored in 1989-91 by Guy St John Taylor Associates and James Brotherhood Associates. Constructed primarily of Mansfield white sandstone ashlar and brick, with a slate roof, the design features a plinth, frieze, dentillated cornice, and an open balustrade with urns at the corners. The fenestration consists of glazing bar sash windows.

The main building is three storeys high with a seven-window range. A projecting three-bay central section incorporates a giant tetrastyle Doric portico with a balustrade and a pediment displaying the Town Arms, surmounted by a figure of Justice, renewed around 1983. Flanking the pediment are pedestals supporting a lion to the left and a unicorn to the right. Within the portico, three tall windows are arranged with the central window pedimented, the flanking ones corniced. Above them are three smaller windows. The outer first-floor windows have cornices and pseudo-balustrades, while the smaller second-floor windows have moulded architraves. The rusticated ground floor is characterised by round-arched openings with multiple keystones and an impost band. Centrally, three doorways have wrought iron grilles and gates. Adjacent are single glazing bar windows, followed by single doorways with half-glazed doors and fanlights. To the left is a late 18th-century addition, serving as the Mayor's Secretary's office, which is constructed of red brick with ashlar lintels and a slate roof, standing four storeys high with a single window range of glazing bar sashes and a round-arched entry with a keystone.

The interior contains an outstanding ballroom, notable for its paired pilasters and domed, apsidal ends, separated from the rest of the space by pairs of giant Corinthian columns. The coved, compartmented ceiling is by Kilminster of Derby. Each side wall features a central, enriched marble fireplace. The front of the ballroom has four doors within decorated surrounds, and the rear has two. Further rear features include a central window with a fanlight, flanked by busts on console brackets. A central council chamber displays a metope and triglyph frieze, ceiling bosses, and door and window architraves with cornices. The Mayor’s Parlour and a picture room feature moulded cornices, elaborate doorcases, and marble and wood fireplaces. An oval stairwell has a dogleg stair with winders and a ramped, scrolled mahogany handrail. Located below the ballroom is an eight-by-three bay market hall, featuring Doric arcades and engaged columns in the aisles, with round arched side openings. To the north is the mid-19th century former gaol, constructed of brick with a slate roof, single-storey, with three windows and four doors, one of which is blocked, all with segmental heads.

The Town Hall is described as a fine example of its type and period and exemplifies the work of John Carr.