The structure, which is the headquarters of Saffron Walden Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.

[3] The design of the original building involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto the Market Place; the central section of three bays, which slightly projected forward and was rusticated on the ground floor, featured three arched openings, each with a wrought-iron grill; on the first floor there was a tall round headed sash window flanked by two conventional sash windows with blind panels above and, at roof level, there was a modillioned cornice, a parapet and a central turret.

[7] The courtroom was converted to serve as a council chamber in 1836 and new lock-up facilities were created at the back of the town hall in 1840.

[3] In October 1877, a local businessman, George Stacey Gibson, offered to pay for the remodelling of the town hall.

[3] The work involved a large new porch designed by Edward Burgess in the Tudor style which was officially opened by the mayor, Joseph Bell, who accepted the keys from Gibson, on 1 October 1879.