The Town Hall was built in 1794 and the ground floor Undercroft was the old marketplace.
In 1805, the wife of one of the men working on the Royal Military Canal's construction was sold for 6 pence to a drummer at Shorncliffe Barracks.
The Council Chamber above contains an oak panel, carved with the names of the Town Bailiffs and Mayors dating from 1349.
During World War I the warnings of air raids were given by the flying of a cone from the roof of the Town Hall.
Next door stands The White Hart Inn, first recorded in 1625. Here, Prime Minister Pitt discussed the coastal defences to ward off a Napoleonic invasion with Wellington and his staff.
