2-324-073 - www.picturethepast.org.uk/Nottinghamshire County Council /Heritage Images

The Town Hall, Retford, Nottinghamshire, 1937. JS Piercy in his History of Retford (1828) says of the Town Hall; The foundation of the present structure was laid in the year 1756; great precaution was used to secure its permanency, in consequence of the defective state of the sub-soil, the corners as well as some other parts were laid upon old millstones: the elevation is from two plans, one by Mr White, and another by Mr Watson; the former gentleman devised the decorations over the centre window, the latter nearly the whole of the remainder. In the tympan, which forms a triangular projection, are placed the armorial bearings of the town, which are two falcons respecting each other, upon a handsome shield, cut in freestone. The centre of the roof is finished by a neat cupola, surmounted by the four quarters of the horizon and a weathercock; under this the bell on which the clock strikes, is suspended, and a dial is placed on each of the principal quarters. The entrance is at the north end.