Following significant population growth, largely associated with the textile industry, a
local board of health was established in Withington in 1876. The new board decided to commission a venue for their meetings: the site they selected, on the south side of Lapwing Lane, was occupied by Lapwing Farm. The new building was designed by Lawrence Booth in the
Baroque Revival style, built in buff brick with stone dressings at a cost of £2,000 and was completed in 1881. In 1882, stables and various outbuildings were added, to designs by Joseph Swarbrick. In 1894, the board was succeeded by an
urban district council, which made the building its town hall. The building ceased to be the local seat of government in 1904, when the district was annexed by the City of Manchester. The building was used as a rest centre with capacity for 300 people during the
Manchester Blitz in the
Second World War. After the war the building remained a venue for public meetings and for dances and concerts.
Manchester City Council continued to use it to deliver services until 1990, when it was declared surplus to requirements, sold for commercial use and converted into offices. After being extensively refurbished for an events management business, APS, in 2007, it went on to become the home of a firm of solicitors, Pabla and Pabla, in 2014. ==Architecture==