[2] The new building was designed by John Thompson of Blackburn in the neoclassical style, built by a local contractor, Thomas Heaton, at a cost of £3,000 in ashlar stone and was officially opened on 7 February 1828.

[2] The original design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto St George's Street; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured a doorway on the ground floor with a rusticated surround and a modillioned cornice; there was a segmental sash window on the first floor flanked by pilasters supporting a pediment with a coat of arms of the lord of the manor, Thomas Tipping, in the tympanum.

[5] In August 1839, Bolton's first mayor, Charles James Darbishire, accompanied a company of soldiers from the 96th Regiment of Foot, on their way to the town hall to rescue 23 special constables, who were besieged by Chartist rioters.

Although all the windows were broken and the front door was destroyed by a lamp post which the rioters had used as a battering ram, the incident was concluded without any significant bloodshed.

[10] It was then acquired by two entrepreneurs who initiated a programme of restoration works costing £450,000 allowing the building to be brought back into use as a café, bar and events venue:[11] the first stage of the development opened for use in April 2019.