EVER wanted to know more about one of Trowbridge’s most iconic buildings? Well look no further than the Trowbridge Town Hall heritage tours, which offer an insight into its fascinating history.

The free tours, which take place weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, have been growing in popularity over the last year and take visitors around the building in Market Street.

Guides provide information throughout the hour-long tour and visit the great hall, the grand staircase, the council chamber, the magistrates’ court and the cells in the basement.

The town hall was built to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887 and served Trowbridge for over 85 years, before being closed to the public in 1973, when ownership passed to Wiltshire County Council.

“We show visitors the whole building and talk about its uses over the years and the real reason it was built,” said Mark Rhodes, who is part of The Town Hall Friends and carries out tours.

“It was presented to the residents of the town by local businessman Sir William Roger Brown as a celebration of the Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, but there was more to it than that.

“During the tour, we go to the cells down below which were used when it used to be a magistrates’ court and to the council chamber, where some of the first meetings of Wiltshire County Council took place.

“We also tell visitors about when it used to host some of the biggest rock and roll groups, with acts like Cat Stevens and The Who performing at the town hall.

“We have been running the tours for about a year and the people who have come on them have really enjoyed it and said they have found all the different stories really interesting.”

The town hall has been transformed over the past few years after a group of Trowbridge residents formed The Trowbridge Town Hall Group in 2011, which then became the Trowbridge Town Hall Trust.

Supported by the Town Hall Friends, the trust has been restoring the building back to a condition suitable for public use, with organisations like Trowbridge Arts now based at the hall.

Mr Rhodes added: “More and more people are using the building to hire space for different clubs and community groups, with meetings taking place in some parts that had not been used for years.

“We know have lots of different things going on at the town hall, with organisations like Trowbridge Arts based here and artists using some of its rooms for studios.”

The tours of the Trowbridge Town Hall take place on Wednesday from 11am and Saturdays at 11am, 12noon and 1pm. For more information, visit www.trowbridgetownhall.org