The Wellcome Great Hall
The Assembly Hall was renamed the Wellcome Great Hall in 1992 in recognition of a substantial donation from The Wellcome Foundation.
The Great Hall has been put to a variety of different , community uses since 1860. Dinners, dances, parties, community fairs, concerts and other entertainments have featured throughout this time. Nowadays it is a popular venue for wedding receptions.
During the Second World War (1939-1945) it was used as a British Restaurant, providing healthy meals at basic prices to local residents. It was also used to dispense orange juice to toddlers and, for one term in the summer of 1949, to provide facilities for a local school.
The Great Hall has a number of interesting features, in particular the tiled fireplace. Portraits of individuals connected with the town and the Town Hall are displayed at one end. The former Minstrels Gallery at one side of the hall cannot yet be brought back into use because there is no safe access. When funds allow, a second floor will be inserted above the foyer to provide a suite of smaller rooms, one of which will lead on to the Gallery. When the foyer was restored in 1990, the roof was raised one storey higher to allow for another floor to be built.