Town Hall

The building is a town hall, constructed in the French Gothic style. The main block dates from the early 20th century, with a library extension added in 1906. The exterior is of snecked grey rubble with gold freestone dressings, topped by steep slate hipped roofs with ridge cresting, swept slate aprons to paired louvred turrets. The front facade is balanced but asymmetrical due to the 1906 library extension on the right.

The central tower features a corbelled gabled porch with squat pilasters and tooled but unfinished blocks of stone forming kneelers, with similar unfinished stonework in the gable's apex. A blind traceried window sits above, intended to hold an inscription. A clock is positioned beneath the gable, flanked by octagonal angle turrets that rise to a short tiled spire with lucarnes and a weather vane. Flat-roofed bays connect the tower’s ground floor with projecting pavilions; these bays contain three shouldered windows (with renewed glazing), above which are three traceried windows, lighting the main hall at first-floor level. A corbelled table runs along the moulded eaves cornice. The left-hand pavilion is part of the original building and features a full-height recessed arch containing a two-light mullioned window on the ground floor, with a similar window above, separated by a pier. There is heavy blind tracery in the arch’s apex. The return elevation facing Water Street has five bays, with a central entrance porch, formerly the main entrance to the hall. A chunky moulded arched doorway is situated within the porch, topped by a steep coped gable. Flanking bays are arcaded by sunken panels, with heavy corbels to the flat heads of the outer bays, and chequerwork tympana to the arched heads of the central three bays. Shouldered windows mirror those on the main elevation. The Carnegie Library, added in 1906, projects from the main hall range facing Wellington Road to balance the left-hand pavilion, and features a three-window range. A gabled porch is present on its left side, with clustered pinnacles and an arch inscribed "Carnegie Free Library.” The ground floor has four shouldered windows with renewed glazing, and the upper windows are arched with incised decoration in the tympana, set beneath hood moulds that form a continuous band. The six-bay return elevation facing Queen Street is similarly detailed.

The layout and detail were altered during remodelling between 1986 and 1990. The main hall at first-floor level remains, featuring nine bays with a west gallery. The roof structure comprises chamfered and braced trusses sprung from wall-posts and strengthened by wrought iron ties, with a ceiling at collar level. Ornate plasterwork surrounds the proscenium arch of the stage at the east end.