Town Hall

Llangollen Town Hall is a Gothic Revival building on Castle Street in the centre of Llangollen, a small town in north-east Wales. Built in the late 1860s as a combined assembly room and market hall, it still serves the town as a community venue, council base and market.

What is Llangollen Town Hall?

The building began life under the name Assembly Rooms and Market Hall. It was raised by local builder Morris Roberts, who had bought the Castle Street plot at auction in December 1858. The design came from the architects Lloyd Williams and Underwood, who gave it a Gothic Revival look. The ground floor was originally an open market hall with arches facing the street. Those arches were later filled in, which is why the ground floor today holds shops.

How did the town hall come about?

Before this building, civic life in Llangollen was far more modest. The first municipal structure was a lock-up for petty offenders, finished in 1834 at the junction of Berwyn Street and Hall Street. After a local board of health was set up in 1857, a room on its first floor became the board's meeting place and, in effect, the town hall. The larger Castle Street building later took over that role and gave the town a proper civic centre.

Why was it once a cinema?

In the 1930s the hall took on a new life as the Town Hall Cinema, opened by the Llangollen Advertising Committee, a group that promoted tourism in the town. It closed at the start of the Second World War. After that the Dorothy Cinema was left as the only picture house in Llangollen. Film screenings have returned to the hall in more recent years, so the cinema tradition has not disappeared entirely.

What can you see and do there today?

The Town Hall is in constant use by local groups. Upstairs is a small theatre space that hosts plays, concerts, musicals, dance and keep-fit classes. Opera and amateur dramatics are staged here regularly. A market is held upstairs on Friday mornings, which continues the building's original trading purpose. The town council offices and council chamber are also inside.

Ownership passed from Denbighshire County Council to Llangollen Town Council in 2012. The Friends of Llangollen Town Hall, a volunteer group formed in 2010, raise money for improvements to the building.

Is the building protected?

Yes. It is a Grade II listed building, listed on 22 December 1989, which recognises its architectural and historic value as part of Llangollen's Victorian townscape.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Llangollen Town Hall? On Castle Street, in the middle of Llangollen, close to the shops and the town's main sights.

When was it built? In the late 1860s. Sources give slightly different years, so the safest description is the late 1860s.

Is it still used as a town hall? Yes. The town council has its offices and chamber there, and the hall also works as a community centre and venue for events.

Is there a market? Yes, a market is held upstairs on Friday mornings.

Is it a listed building? Yes, Grade II, since 1989.

Who built it? Local builder Morris Roberts, to a design by Lloyd Williams and Underwood.

Can I see a show there? The upstairs theatre space hosts plays, concerts, musicals and film presentations, so check the current programme before your visit.