Town Hall

Huntingdon Town Hall is a municipal structure on Market Hill in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Huntingdon Borough Council, is a Grade II* listed building. History The first municipal building on Market Hill was a 17th-century courthouse which was arcaded on the ground floor, so that markets could be held, with an assembly room on the first floor. It was demolished in the mid-18th century to allow construction of the current building. The current building was designed by Benjamin Timbrell in the neoclassical style, built in red brick with stone dressings and was completed in 1745. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto Market Hill with the ground floor rendered and painted; the central section of three bays, which projected forward, featured a doorway flanked by two pairs of Tuscan order columns supporting an entablature; there was a balcony and a French door flanked by casement windows on the first floor and there were three tall round headed windows on the second floor. At roof level there was a large pediment with a clock in the tympanum and central cupola above that. The building was enlarged in 1817. Internally, the principal rooms were the assembly hall, which featured three chandeliers and a series of important portraits, and the council chamber, which featured boards listing the names of former mayors of the town. The main staircase was recovered from the earlier courthouse.