The Market Hall

The Market Hall, formerly known as the Town Hall, is a building with origins dating back to the 17th century. It is constructed from local lias stone that is cut and roughly squared, with Ham stone dressings, and features a clay pantiled roof set between stepped coped gables topped with ball finials and an ornamental clay tile ridge. The structure is two storeys high and consists of five bays.

On the south elevation, there are offset buttresses leading up to a between-floors string course, which is interrupted by arches and labels above the openings. The first bay contains a cambered arched doorway, while the second bay features a four-light chamfered mullioned window with a flat head. The fourth and fifth bays have semi-circular arched doorways, and the upper bays one, two, four, and five have matching mullioned windows with labels.

The east end showcases a tall five-light mullioned and transomed window with a semi-circular head. There is a small added porch at the west end, which has a coped gable and a cambered arched doorway, along with a smaller five-light window above that has a four-centre arched head.

On the north side, taller buttresses support full-height five-light flat arched mullioned and transomed windows in the first and second bays. The third bay features a slightly projecting chimney stack with offsets, accompanied by a two-light window in the lower right and a similar window in the lower part of bay four. The upper bay four also has a five-light window, all on this side without labels. The fifth bay includes a cambered arched doorway accessed by three steps.

In the northwest corner, adjacent to the porch, there is a cast iron pump and stone bowl. The interior has not been seen, and the building is currently undergoing substantial external patching and interior remodelling as of June 1984. The Market Hall was formerly known as the Shambles House, with records indicating its existence since at least 1688 and repairs made in 1799. By 1841, it became the focus of the meat market and was also used by local magistrates until 1870; the west porch served as a former lock-up. The building was owned by Lord Ilchester before being sold to the town in 1913. It is included for its historical interest and significance within the street scene.