The Old Shire Hall

The Old Shire Hall is a long, narrow two-storey building constructed from blue lias rubble, featuring a painted blue lias ashlar street front and slate roofs that are hipped behind a front parapet. Early photographs indicate that there was a bell-turret on the roof hip. The street front includes a two-storey arch, which was likely originally open but now has 20th-century infill. The side piers have plain raised imposts, with voussoirs that feature a raised outer arch and a raised keystone that is horizontally ribbed. Above this is a low attic storey with a sill course, which has a pair of central windows set in a rectangular recess. These are modern windows, but the recessed stone voussoirs are probably original. The façade also has a plain frieze, cornice, and parapet.

To the north, there is a short return facing down High Street, which has a ground floor arch over the pavement, a blank first floor, and an attic level that features a painted clock face dated 1844. The long side walls on the south side have been partly revealed due to the demolition of No 2 High Street, and the two-storey west end is canted with three sides, featuring arched ground floor windows in arched recesses and 12-pane sashes above. The lower windows have radiating glazing bars, and this part of the building is illustrated in an engraving from 1812.

Inside, the former Corn Market has a plain ceiling with timber cross beams. At the west end, there are steps leading up to a raised area supported by six heavy painted Roman Doric columns, which hold up stuccoed lateral beams beneath the upper floor. There is a modern seventh column added to support a beam that was cut for a 20th-century stair. The upper floor contains two main rooms; the larger room, located above the Corn Market, features a plaster shallow barrel vault and a modillion cornice. It has three 12-pane sashes on the north side and three 6-pane upper windows on the south side. The east end has three arches with timber panelled piers and fielded panelling within the arches, with the centre arch providing access to stairs leading to the attic front room. At the east end is an attractive octagonal room, with three sides open to the main room, featuring two free-standing Roman Doric columns and two attached to the wall. This room also has an entablature, a modillion cornice, and an octagonal shallow plastered dome with a central rose.