Old Town Hall (Burslem Recreation Centre)

The Old Town Hall, now known as the Burslem Recreation Centre, is a former town hall built in 1854 by G.T. Robinson of Leamington. Constructed from ashlar, it is a two-storey building featuring a main hall with seven bays and a western tower above an open entrance or passageway. The design is inspired by Baroque architecture. The ground floor has a battered appearance made of channelled ashlar, with a heavy moulded plinth that supports paired Corinthian pilasters leading to the first floor. This is topped by a cornice beneath a parapet that has a pronounced overhang and frieze. The ground floor windows are set in coved recesses with keystones, while tall round-arched windows are found above. The west tower features an open ground floor with coved arches on three sides and paired Corinthian columns at the outer angles. The clock tower has volutes that terminate in caryatids supporting the blocking course beneath an octagonal turret with an ogival roof and an angel finial. The eastern end is divided into three bays with pilasters on the first storey. A central doorway on the ground floor has a coved architrave leading to a panelled door, and the upper sash windows are adorned with shell motifs as hoods. Inside, there is a double staircase with heavily scrolled iron balusters and heavy classical architraves around the doorways. The main chamber on the first floor features Corinthian pilasters that articulate the walls, along with a coved ceiling supported by elaborate wrought-iron ties.