The Market Hall

Market hall, still in use as a vegetable and flea market. Built 1830-1831 with renovations and alterations in 1876 by Snell. The architect is unknown. Constructed in timber and cast iron with a natural slate roof and painted stretcher bond brick infill.

The building is a long, rectangular structure of 21 bays, originally open on both long sides with a central two-storey square tower containing an upper room. The sides of the hall were infilled, probably in 1876. The market hall was originally assigned to butchers, poultry and gardeners, standing adjacent to the cattle market to the north (now a car park), with one range of covered booths (separately listed) surviving on the west side.

The exterior presents a single-storey hall with a two-storey tower in the centre. Both end walls are solid with coped gables with kneelers. A continuous glazed lantern runs along the ridge, stopping against the tower. The tower itself is roughcast with a hipped roof with lead rolls and an octagonal cupola comprising tapering timber columns supporting an octagonal louvred bellcote with round-headed openings and an ogee lead roof topped by a weathervane. The tower has segmental-headed first floor timber windows: the west side window is glazed as a tripartite sash of 9 over 6 panes with fixed flanking lights, while the east side window is a 4-light casement with glazing bars. Clock faces to north and south are fixed to solid panels roofed across to the tower; these are dated 1830 and made by Tucker of Tiverton.

The long walls are stretcher bond brick with continuous glazing above, topped by timber louvres. The original 1830-1831 cast-iron columns—very slender with engaged shafts and moulded capitals and bases—are buried in the walls, similar to the surviving columns of the detached market booths to the west.

The south end wall is blank with a twentieth-century window. The main entrance on the north end features a segmental-headed arched doorway with chamfered brick imposts, now converted to a window. To the left of centre is a wide moulded cornice with a door flanked by windows below. To the right of centre are a doorway and one window. Additional entrances on the long sides in the centre against the tower have segmental heads with gables treated as pediments with timber moulding, 2-leaf doors, and segmental-headed fanlights with vertical glazing bars. The tower retains segmental-headed ground floor windows (now internal) glazed with small-pane timber casements.

The interior contains two rows of axial timber posts on either side of the tower. The roof is now concealed by a false ceiling, though a 1972 list description reported "timber roof, trusses on timber and cast-iron supports".

Historically, the Tiverton Market Act received assent on 10 June 1825, but the market did not open until 8 June 1830, at a total cost of £8,392. Before its construction, marketing was carried out in the streets. By 1876 the buildings were in a bad state and were "practically rebuilt" at a cost of about £2,000.