[1] The building was originally financed by public subscription and commissioned by the Holmfirth and Literary and Philosophical Society as their meeting place.

[3] It was designed in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £2,200 and was officially opened with a dinner, a concert and a ball as Holmfirth Town Hall in 1842.

[4] The magistrates also began holding their petty sessions there,[5] and it also became an important venue for public meetings: the champion of the campaign for a ten-hour working day, Richard Oastler, held a rally in the town hall in April 1844.

[8] It was commissioned to serve as the home of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment.

The main facade is to the south-east, and it has three central bays, with tall windows, and single-bay wings either side.