[1] In the mid-19th century, a group of local businessmen decided to form a company to raise funds for the erection of an events venue in the town.

[2] The site they selected was on the west side of Prince of Wales Road and the foundation stone was laid by Mrs Benjamin Bond-Cabbell of Cromer Hall on 3 January 1890.

[3] The building was designed by George Skipper in the Queen Anne style, built in red brick with a stucco finish by Chapman and Son of Norwich and was completed later that year.

[1][4][5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Prince of Wales Road; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured, on the ground floor, a round headed doorway and, on the first floor, a four-part window flanked by fluted pilasters supporting a modillioned pediment with an illustration of a sailing ship in the tympanum.

[10] Following the Second World War, during which time the town hall was requisitioned for military use,[11] it resumed its role as a theatre and performers included the actor, Bernard Archard, who appeared in a production entitled The Regency Players, in 1960.