The building was commissioned by the
local board of health, which had previously met at the Dolphin Inn. A design completion was held and won by
George Bridgman who received a prize of £25. The design featured a symmetrical three-stage circular tower on the corner of Fore Street and Manor Road: there was a doorway with a
fanlight and an
archivolt flanked by
brackets supporting a
balustraded
balcony in the first stage, a French door flanked by smaller round headed windows in the second stage and three windows flanked by
pilasters in the third stage with a
modillioned
cornice and a
conical roof above. The Manor Street frontage of four bays involved, in the three right hand bays, a central rounded headed doorway with an archivolt flanked by round headed windows on the ground floor and a rectangular three-light window flanked by round headed windows on the first floor. The gable above, which contained a large
oculus, was flanked by
balustrades surmounted by
finials. Following significant population growth, largely associated with the role of St Marychurch as a seaside town, the area became an
urban district with the town hall as its headquarters in 1894; however, the new council was short-lived as the area was annexed by
Torbay in 1900. The town hall was subsequently used as an events venue with concerts, dances, film shows and
whist drives. Then in 1917, during the
First World War, the town hall was used as a restaurant for
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps troops who had returned from service on the
Western Front and were billeted at a local private house known as Hampton Court. During the
Second World War, the building was used by the public health department of the local council and, in 1947,
Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading unveiled a new projecting clock, which had been donated by the
Women's Voluntary Service of which she was the founder and chairman. the proceeds applied for works on the
Babbacombe Cliff Railway and the town hall was subsequently converted into apartments. ==References==