The site the board selected, on the southeast side of East Street, was occupied by a market garden.

[3] The new building was designed by a local architect, Charles James Dawson, in the Renaissance Revival style, built in red brick with stone dressings and was completed in 1893.

The central bay featured a large stone portico with a round headed opening and elaborate carvings in the spandrels.

At roof level, there a brick parapet and a central cupola with a clock, an ogee-shaped dome and a finial.

[7] In December 1989, the building was the venue for the initial stages of the trial of the former boxer, Terry Marsh, who was accused of having shot the boxing promoter, Frank Warren, outside the Broadway Theatre in Barking.