The earliest mention of a ‘Town Hall’ in Congleton is a reference to a ‘Moot Hall’ in the 15th century. The ancient timber-framed hall (possibly the Moot Hall) was replaced in 1804-5 when the Corporation built a new brick and stone hall, with four stone columns which supported a covered passageway. The new building was known as the Guildhall. There was a large room where municipal business was transacted, a room for the imprisonment of debtors, a jury room and two arched dungeons. An assembly room and market were added in 1823.
You can take a tour around the Town Hall and learn the history of our ‘treasures’ in the video. The video was part of the Congleton Heritage & Antiques Festival 2020, and it was created as a virtual tour of the Town Hall and the Treasures it holds.
The impressive building was designed by Edward William Godwin and is based on his design of Northampton Town Hall. The Victorian Gothic building was built to impress and to reflect Congleton’s status. It has an imposing stone staircase and a courtroom on the first floor.
On the ground floor, there was a large hall for a variety of functions. The building still impresses people today! It embodies Italian and French Gothic design influences, and the inside is equally dramatic with a large two-storey Main Hall with exposed hammer beams, a minstrels’ gallery and mansard ceilings. The building is grade 2* listed.
We don’t have the original plans, but we have found a reference to the design of the Town Hall in The Building News and Engineering Journal, Vol. 12, p. 8 (c. 19th century), digitised by Google Books. The arches of the Town Hall were designed for a covered marketplace, with a library, courtroom and council offices on the upper floors. Built by a Mr Burkitt of Wolverhampton at a cost of £8,000.
Two previous town halls had occupied the site, a half-timbered, black and white building which was demolished in 1805 and a neo-classical building that replaced it. The latter, which was fronted by a colonnade and piazza made up of four columns, housed a court-room, dungeons and a room for the confinement of debtors. A set of steps leading from the present council chamber to lower regions appears to have survived from these earlier incarnations and is now protected by hardened glass (visible in the Bridestone Room). Sir Edmund Antrobus, a major benefactor of the town whose name survives in Antrobus Street, paid for the addition of a market hall and an assembly room to the neo-classical building.
List Entry Number: 1086996
As mentioned above, Godwin, who won a competition to design the Town Hall in 1864, was an architect-designer in London who, at this time, worked in the polychromatic Ruskinian Gothic style and had just completed the Northampton Guildhall in a very similar style. Despite escalating costs, which resulted in reduced decoration, architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner has described it as ‘a specially good Gothic Town Hall’ worthy of its Grade II listed status.
The Town Hall is the prominent building within the Moody Street Conservation area. There are 43 listed buildings and structures within the Conservation area, of which one is Grade II* (Town Hall), and one is Grade I (St Peter’s Church). There is a range of styles of buildings, from timber-framed buildings of the 1600s to 1700s, to grand three-storey Georgian town houses, late nineteenth-century Gothic and late twentieth-century utilitarian buildings.
Until the Local Government re-organisation in 1974 Congleton Town Hall was owned and managed by the Congleton Urban District Council (responsible for Congleton Town only). In 1974 it transferred to Congleton Borough Council.
Congleton Town Hall Trust was established in 1998 to operate the facility at the community level. Financial resources and local politics conspired against it and management soon reverted to the Borough Council.
The statues of Queen Victoria, Henry de Lacy and Edward I, which were set over the frontage of the Town Hall, were badly weathered, and only Queen Victoria remains as the others were removed for safety reasons during renovations.
In the 13th century, Congleton belonged to the de Lacy family and Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln, granted its first charter in 1272. This gave it the right to elect a mayor and ale taster, have a merchant guild and hold a market. The statue marked the importance of Congleton as an historic market town.
In January 2007, Congleton Town Council moved its offices back to the Town Hall, this time leasing two rooms on the first floor. Later in the year, it took over the second floor and converted storage space into two modern, fully DDA-compliant offices. The ownership and freehold of the Town Hall transferred to the Town Council on 2nd June 2008.
Building on a proud legacy of local governance, this site has served the community since the 15th century.
After Congleton Town Council took ownership in June 2008, the Town Hall embarked on a major programme of improvements designed to upgrade usability, improve energy performance, and widen accessibility, all while safeguarding its Grade II* listed building status. Completed in 2019, the works included significant enhancements to the Bridestones Suite, bringing it up to modern standards for events, as well as extensive roof repairs to secure the long-term condition of the building.
A strong emphasis was placed on sustainability, with upgrades such as modern boiler systems, improved insulation measures including draught-proofing, and the introduction of LED lighting to lower both carbon emissions and running costs.
Attention was also given to the venue’s hospitality offer. The bar, kitchen, and cocktail bar areas were redesigned and upgraded in collaboration with a commercial partner, improving efficiency for event delivery and creating new income opportunities. These changes have supported a wide range of uses—from weddings and live performances to business events—without compromising the building’s historic character.
Accessibility was further strengthened through improvements to offices and public areas, building on earlier work to meet Disability Discrimination Act requirements and later aligning with the standards set out in the Equality Act 2010.
