The structure, which is the meeting place of St Ives Town Council, is a locally listed heritage asset.

[2] The local portreeve, John Payne, who held meetings in the old guildhall, was hanged as a rebel during the Prayer Book Rebellion in 1549.

[5] The new building was designed by a local architect, Geoffrey B. Drewitt, in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1939.

[8] A visitor information centre was subsequently established in the guildhall,[9] which also became the meeting place of St Ives Town Council.

[10] A bronze sculpture entitled Dual Form, designed by the sculptor, Dame Barbara Hepworth, who lived in St Ives,[11] was unveiled outside the guildhall in 1966.