The Town Hall

The Town Hall, located in Market Place, was built between 1812 and 1816, incorporating elements from a late 17th-century building and undergoing several modifications in the 20th century. It is constructed from local lias stone that has been cut and squared, with Ham stone dressings, and features a hipped Welsh slate roof behind parapets and brick chimney stacks. The building has two storeys and five bays. It includes a plinth, a cornice band, and a plain parapet. The lower bays one and two have chamfered mullioned windows set in plain recesses, featuring three lights without labels. The upper bays, except for bay four, contain 16-pane sash windows with voussoired flat arches. Lower bay three has a large chamfered semi-circular arch with a small keystone, which is partly blocked and has a pair of plain boarded studded doors inserted. Upper bay four has a pair of doors in a deep recess, accessed by a large stone and concrete staircase added in 1920, which blocks lower bays four and five. The west wall was rebuilt in 1969, featuring five light mullioned windows under labels at both levels, replacing a large 17th-century 20-light mullioned and transomed window. Facing the rear courtyard, there is one oak framed and mullioned window with surviving sections of lead casing and small glass panes. Inside, remnants of a courtroom are still visible at the west end, and the first-floor assembly room from 1812 has a simple decorative plaster vaulted ceiling. Ilchester was the county town of Somerset, and the Shire Hall, dating from the 13th century or earlier, was located here; the County Court operated until 1843 and the County Gaol until 1846.