[1] The building was commissioned following of a request from the local Free Church Council who believed the town needed a public library and a temperance hotel, although the concept was significantly adjusted to create a new market hall and a new meeting place for the borough council, who had previously met in the Old Market Hall.

[2] The building was designed by Frank Shayler and Thomas Ridge in the Arts and Crafts style, built in Cefn stone from Minera and was officially opened on 20 April 1908.

[1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Great Oak Street; it was arcaded on the ground floor, so that markets could be held.

At roof level, there was a central clock-tower surmounted by a bellcote with a weather vane, and the cross-gable was flanked by dormer windows.

[1] Shayler was a notable architect of the Arts and Crafts movement and the architectural historians, Robert Scourfield and Richard Haslam, have described it as "one of the best examples of his work".