The timber-framed building is extravagantly decorated with carvings, including mermaids, angels, animals, flowers and grotesque people.

These read:[2] When built by John Abel in 1633,[3] the market hall was open at ground level, being supported on twelve oak columns.

[3] In the process, the ground floor was enclosed, a three-storey brick extension added at the rear,[6] and the roof replaced.

[8] At some point two terracotta panels by the Leominster sculptor William Storr-Barber (died 1934) were added to the interior.

[9] In 1939, Leominster District Council acquired the building for £3,000 through a compulsory purchase order, thereby thwarting an apparent plan by William Randolph Hearst to remove it for reuse as a gatehouse at St Donat's Castle.