The Town Hall and Corn Exchange were built in 1871. There had been three earlier town halls dating from the 13th century. All had been in the middle of the marketplace.
A new town clock was given to the town in 1862 and the cupola of the 1786 town hall was much altered to accommodate the clock. However, the changes made the building unstable, and it was decided to build a new town hall, including a large and impressive clock tower.
The Victorian town hall is in Italianate Byzantine style using red brick, Bath stone and terracotta. It took 12 months to build at a cost of £4,000.
Over time the main Corn Exchange hall has been used for a wide variety of events, including cinema, roller-skating and even a lion show with live lions!