[1] The building was designed in the style of a French château (with a mansard roof crested with iron railings, Venetian windows and a clocktower with a cupola) by Manchester architect William Pollard (who also designed Buxton College's Gothic-style 'new building' in 1880).

The chairman of the governing Local Board, Edward Milligan, laid the foundation stone in June 1887 (the year of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria).

[2][3][4] The clock on the clock tower was a gift from the Duke of Devonshire's tenants in 1889, in honour of Lord Frederick Cavendish, who was stabbed to death aged 45 in the Phoenix Park Murders in Dublin in May 1882 (shortly after arriving to take up his new post as Chief Secretary for Ireland).

[5][6] There is a bust of Lord Cavendish (son of the 7th Duke of Devonshire) on display inside the town hall.

[8][2][9] The town hall was built from high-quality millstone grit from the local Nithen Quarry at Corbar Hill.