[1] The first building on the site was the home of Major Jones Crawford who saw action with the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot at the Siege of Seringapatam in Southern India in 1799 during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.

[1][2][3] In 1879, the house was demolished and the site redeveloped by a local ironmonger, Bernard Gillespie, who saw an opportunity to establish a municipal building in the town.

[1][4] The new building was designed in the Italianate style, built in brick with a stucco finish and was completed in 1880.

[1][5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Townhall Street; the ground floor was fenestrated by a central square-headed casement window which was flanked by openings containing recessed doorways with rectangular fanlights on either side.

The first floor featured a prominent Venetian window incorporating pilasters and hood moulds.