The Market Hall, Ruthin

The Market Hall, Ruthin

Ruthin’s market hall was designed and built with the adjoining town hall in the 1860s, replacing a 17th-century town hall on the site. The photo of the new building c1875 is shown here courtesy of Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – the National Library of Wales.

The construction project suffered delays and cost increases. The contractor asked the town council for extra money in 1865 but the claim was referred to the architect, David Walker of Birkenhead, whom the council blamed for the delays. The contractor racked up c.£2,250 of debts (over £280,000 in today’s money) on the project before going bankrupt.

Photo of Ruthin Market Hall and Town Hall c1875

Also in 1865, some 20 local butchers complained that stalls in the new market hall were too small and inconvenient. The town council simply told them they had to be satisfied, so they arranged to rent stalls at the old market for a year!

A stone water tank atop the town hall burst one evening in 1866, drenching the “butter women and green grocers” in the market below.

In 1869 the storeroom at the western end of the market hall (now the Citizens Advice offices) became the station of Ruthin’s newly formed fire brigade. It housed a manual fire engine and other appliances. The fire station was already too cramped by the time it received a steam-powered horse-drawn fire engine (a double-vertical Shand Mason model named “Mabel”) in 1906. The brigade moved to more spacious premises, elsewhere in Market Street, in 1912.

In May 1917 girls from Ruthin County School took part in the National Egg Collection, an initiative promoted by the War Office to supply eggs to hospitals treating servicemen wounded in the First World War. The girls collected hundreds of eggs from households, elementary schools and farms, but at the market hall they received not a single egg!

Since 2019 the market has been operated as a social enterprise by Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council. The hall is used by a variety of businesses and artists and is a venue for community activities.

Postcode: LL15 1BE    View Location Map

Website of Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council