[2] In the early 19th century civic leaders decided to demolish the old moot hall and, as a replacement, to make appropriate alterations to an existing house in Chapel Lane, which had been designed in the neoclassical style and built in ironstone in 1769.

[2] The design of the house involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Abbey Street; the ground floor featured three round headed windows with archivolts and keystones flanked by niches created with short Doric order pilasters and entablatures.

[3] A new porch was erected on that elevation and the pediment on the Abbey Street side was augmented by the installation of a 17th century clock, which had been recovered from the old moot hall, in the tympanum.

[7][8] A local history museum was established in the moot hall in the early 1980s: items on display included the original mechanically operated clock as well as a set of imperial measures, typically held by local authorities to ensure tradesmen comply with the Weights and Measures Act 1824.

[10] After the museum and tourist information office moved to New Street in 2004, the moot hall operated as an Indian restaurant from May 2006[11] and then saw a variety of commercial uses before being converted to become a children's nursery in January 2020.