Town Hall

This is a two-story town hall, originally designed with civic rooms above and a market hall below. It likely dates to the 18th century. The building is constructed from snecked bull nosed rubble with a steep slate roof, slightly swept eaves, and pyramidal roofed ventilators. Freestone dressings include a gable parapet, stringcourse, and quoins. A cross gable to the left features a timber bellcote with openwork detail and a pyramidal roof. A tall pointed arch recess above the main entrance contains a clock face, flanked by twinned cusped lancet windows with polished granite columns and foliage capitals, which also light the main staircase. Five two-light windows with quatrefoil heads and diamond glazing are situated to the right at the first floor level. The stringcourse steps up to the left over the main entrance, incorporating a deeply recessed circular window within a pointed arch tympanum. A square-headed opening below contains double doors. Flatter pointed arches with toothed ornament and stop-chamfered jambs are found on the ground floor; these were formerly open but have since been infilled with large windows featuring pivot openings. Paired doors are located in the middle bay, with a shop front and door to the left-hand bay. Additional detail is present on the Parade Street elevation, around the chamfered corner. A gablet end over the main roof includes a high cross gable containing a three-light pointed arch window with a twin quatrefoil to the head, matching the style of the main front window. Three similar flat arched openings are positioned below, with the rightmost containing a doorway. A two-story cross range continues to the right, stepped down, and has three grouped lancets to the first floor. A taller corner tower to the right has a steep half-hipped roof, deeply chamfered corners, and a tall lancet window. Similar windows, some with quatrefoil heads, are found on the left-hand side, along with a swept roof attic containing a three-light window and a gable with applied cusped half-timbering. Two stone chimney stacks are visible. The rear elevation is plainer in detail.

Inside, the left-hand entrance hall has encaustic tile flooring and a semicircular, panelled and half-glazed porter's office. The main staircase features metal uprights and a wooden handrail. The main civic room upstairs has an open roof truss, with a style reminiscent of both hammerbeam and ship's keel roof designs. It incorporates segmental arches at collar level, deep foliage-carved brackets, a raked gallery at one end supported by cast iron pillars with a sinuous front, festooned ornament over the proscenium and a blind cartouche. A Gothic fireplace with deep marble roundels completes the room.