The Old Town Hall and Market Hall

The Old Town Hall and Market Hall is a two-storey building featuring three bays. The upper storey, made of stucco, dates from 1860-1861, while the lower storey, constructed from stone, was completed in 1829. The ground floor showcases a striking neo-classical design with well-cut long blocks of grey limestone. The central section projects forward and is topped with a pediment, while the sides are adorned with a cornice and parapet. There are three tall arched doorways, each featuring pierced cast-iron fanlights above pairs of iron gates or wooden doors. In the tympanum of the pediment, there is an oval plaque displaying a heraldic device used on the Borough Seal, flanked by carved scrolls.

The upper storey contains three large four-pane sash windows, with two pilasters flanking the central bay. These windows are topped with minimal entablatures and cornices that connect to a thin main cornice. The parapet features three bays with raised blocks above the pilasters.

The rear wall of the Market, facing Upper Frog Street and built in 1829, has end and centre bays made of tooled grey limestone that slightly project. Each bay features a raised string course beneath the parapet and a round-arched doorway with stone voussoirs and an impost band. The left bay has been modified to serve as a toilet entrance, while the other two bays have cast-iron fanlights designed by Macfarlane from 1891. There is an iron gate to the middle bay and a 20th-century wooden door to the right bay. Between the bays, there is a whitewashed rubble wall, which was plastered in 1977, featuring a string course and parapet that continues but slopes due to the falling ground. A dressed stone plinth supports the structure. Since 1977, an additional grey limestone arched doorway has been added to the right of the left bay for a second toilet entrance, and a new market roof has been constructed, requiring the wall to be raised above the original parapet.

Inside, the open ground floor behind the entrance arches features a staircase with an iron balustrade and arrow-headed finials leading up to the Court Room or Old Town Hall above. Behind this area is the main hall of the Market, which was originally open and glass-roofed in 1890-1891, with the roof replaced in the later 20th century.