[2] The Chapel of the Fraternity of St John the Baptist was demolished in the late 17th century, allowing an enlarged council house to be rebuilt in the Classical style and completed in 1704.

[2] The present building, which was designed by Sir Robert Smirke[3] in a neoclassical style, was built between 1824 and 1827.

[1] The design for the main frontage consisted of five bays with two large Ionic order columns on either side of the entrance.

[5] The Council House was extended to the south-west to a design by Richard Shackleton Pope and George Dymond in order to accommodate magistrates courts in 1828-9;[6] this involved demolishing two further properties on Corn Street, the basements of which were reused as holding cells for prisoners.

[2] The building was extended again, this time to the north-west, to create a Council Chamber, large enough to accommodate up to 150 people,[5] which was officially opened by Queen Victoria on 12 November 1899.