Market House

The Market House, built in 1844 and attributed to Christopher Eales, is a significant market house located on Market Street in St Austell. Constructed from granite ashlar, it features vermiculated quoins and voussoirs, with dry slate roofs that include an eaves cornice adorned with heavy modillions at the front and hipped ends on the other roofs. The building has a large irregular plan designed to fit the available space in the town center. The ground floor is vaulted, measuring five bays wide and three bays deep, leading to a large market hall that is open to the roof and surrounded by glazed lean-to shops on three sides. Granite steps on either side lead up to a higher level beneath an axial roof, with a large entrance on the right and four parallel roofs positioned at right angles to the front.

The exterior is tall with two storeys and a symmetrical five-window front featuring moulded round arches linked by a moulded impost string to the first floor. The ground floor has segmental and round arches with a rusticated appearance, complemented by vermiculated quoins. Additional architectural details include a plinth, a bracketed string course, and impost courses. The first-floor windows are horned sashes with glazing bars and fanlight heads above bracketed sills, while the ground floor has 20th-century plate glass windows and a wide doorway with a plain fanlight and panelled doors.

On the Market Hill elevation, there is a large round-arched entrance with a pediment, flanked by two bays with round arches on the left and right. To the right of this entrance are three similar bays that are blind except for fanlight heads, along with another pedimented doorway at the far right.

Inside, the entrance range features round granite cross vaults supported by plain Doric columns. The spacious inner market hall includes a granite staircase accessed through round-arched granite doorways on either side, a gallery over the arcade, and an impressive arrangement of braced and wind-braced queen-post roof structures. This market house is recognized as one of the best market halls in the country, showcasing remarkable elevations and an exciting interior.