[2] The town hall was commissioned to replace an aging guildhall, located in the middle of the High Street, which had previously been the civic meeting place as well as the venue for the Quarter Sessions which travelled around South Wales.

[3] Civic leaders found that the guildhall was restricting the movement of traffic in the High Street and decided to find an alternative venue: the site they selected was a building dating back to 1806 which had served as a prison or "House of Correction" but had fallen vacant when correctional activities were consolidated in Swansea.

[4] Plans of the House of Correction dating from 1823 show the two-storeyed building flanked by the walls of prisoners' exercise yards, which were incorporated into the new Town Hall to provide additional rooms.

[5] In 1824 it was reported that the "Plans and estimate of the expense attending the erection of a new Town Hall ... have been procured by the Revd.

In the floor of the parlour, the remains of one of the wells which were located in the exercise yards to provide water for prisoners can still be seen.