The town hall, which was the headquarters of Widnes Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.

[1] After significant industrial growth in the second half of the 19th century, particularly in relation to the chemical industry, members of the local board of health decided to procure a town hall: the site they selected had been open land in what was then little more than a village established close to the Gossage chemical works.

[2] The new building, which was designed by F. and G. Holme in the Renaissance style and built with terracotta dressings, was completed in 1885.

[8] The success of the exhibition led to the formation of the Museum of the Chemical Industry (subsequently renamed the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre) at Gossage House in Widnes in 1989.

[11][12] The town hall was then left empty and deteriorating,[13] until a developer, Stephen Lawler, acquired the building, and carried out some limited restoration works.