[5] A white marble statue of the locally-born naval officer, Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, who had been Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in the late 1820s and, again, in the early 1830s, was sculpted by David Dunbar and unveiled in front of the town hall in March 1842.

The site for the new library was donated by Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch and the cost of construction was financed by public subscription for which the principal subscriber was Alexander Reid, the proprietor of Reid &Taylor, a business which was based at Langholm Woollen Mills.

It featured ogee-shaped turrets which could be seen rising high above the building when viewed from in front of the town hall.

[7] A drinking fountain and a plaque, commemorating the life of the poet, William Julius Mickle, were donated by the London Eskdale Society and installed on the front of the town hall in 1896.

[5] Meanwhile, the area outside the town hall continued to be used as the venue for the closing ceremony of the annual common riding celebrations.