[1] After significant population growth associated with the increasing number of cotton mills in the town, the area became an urban district in 1894.

[3] The new building, which was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in the Gothic style, was built with ashlar stone and was officially opened by the chairman of the council, Samuel Catlow, on 13 January 1894.

[4][5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Albert Road; the central bay featured a doorway flanked by colonettes supporting a stone arch on the ground floor; there was an oriel window on the first floor and a four-stage clock tower with pyramid-shaped roof above.

[6] The Cambridge quarter-chiming clock was made by Potts of Leeds,[7] and the five bells by Taylor of Loughborough.

[9] Investigations conducted by a research team funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund indicated that this paving stone is only exceeded in surface area by the large paving stones in front of St George's Hall in Liverpool.