[1] The first building on the site was a medieval tollbooth erected to enable the lord of the manor collect tolls from people on the north-south coaching route between London and Edinburgh.

[3] A bell to be rung in case of flooding or fire was installed in the belfry in 1690: it was inscribed: "Si Deus pro nobis ouis contra nos."

)[4] When the old tollbooth became dilapidated, the then lord of the manor, Thomas Belasyse, 3rd Viscount Fauconberg, decided to demolish it and to replace it with a new structure.

The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with two bays facing south along the High Street; there were sash windows on the first floor and it featured a pyramid-shaped roof with a square clock tower, a belfry and a weather vane.

[12] A plaque to commemorate the lives of service personnel who had served with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and with the Imperial Yeomanry in the Second Boer War was installed on the south face of the building in the early 20th century[4] and a memorial to commemorate the lives of service personnel who had died in the First World War was unveiled in front of the building by the Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire, Sir Hugh Bell, on 12 June 1920.