A reference for a common hall, later called the moot hall, was recorded in 1277.<1><2>

Oil painting of The Old Moot Hall.<3>

Watercolour painting of The Old Moot Hall by Paul Braddon.<4>

The Moot Hall and its associated buildings were demolished in 1843 and replaced with a new town hall on the same site. The main part of the complex consisted of a fine raised hall aligned east-west, the floor of which was elevated six feet above the level of the street and which had doorways in both its northern and southern walls. The southern doorway was centrally placed and flanked by two roughly equidistant windows, the sills of which were three feet above the floor of the hall. Architectural features recorded before the destruction of the Hall suggest a building of 12th century origin.<5>

In 1748 Morant described the building to the north of the Moot Hall thus: 'and, North...a large Room; over which is the Freemen's Chamber...Out of the large Room below is the Council-room...Partly under, and partly adjoining to this Hall, is the Town goal.'<6>