The town hall, which was the meeting place of Retford Borough Council, is a grade II listed building.

[5] The 1528 moot hall was replaced with another building on the same site designed in the neoclassical style by Messrs White and Watson.

[6][7] This hall provided a venue for assemblies, a court house for local and county sessions, and a shambles for the weekly market.

[4] The building was described by local historian John Piercy in 1828: “The roof was surmounted by a small cupola, of a very antiquated appearance, containing a bell, but no clock.

[5] Another room, which was used by the grand jury at Quarter Sessions, was connected to the hall "by means of a pair of folding doors".

Permission was sought from the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to raise a mortgage of £9,000 for the land and building costs.

Permission was eventually granted with a Retford resident, George Chapman, agreeing to provide the funds and local builder Thomas Hopkinson being awarded the construction tender.

[1] In 1867 T. Cooke & Sons of York transferred the clock from the old town hall into the new, and added a set of quarter bells to sound the Westminster chimes,[10] (the latter having been funded by public subscription).

At the rear of the ballroom, a residence was provided for the hall-keeper, and there was also a kitchen "fitted up with a Leamington range, capable of cooking a first-class dinner for 500 people".

[8] In about 1980 the first floor was expanded into the 'Old Bank' building next door, which had been bought by Retford Borough Council in 1926 and was being used as municipal offices.