which, before its alteration and brick casing in 1795, was considered a
most curious specimen of the unembattled town mansion, erected (it is
conjectured) about the middle of the fourteenth century by Sir Hamo
Vaughan, whose daughter Eleanor married Reginald de Mutton. By this
alliance the house came into the possession of the Myttons of Halston,
several of whom represented this town in parliament; but little of its
original state now appears. The hall is approached from a passage near
the Corn-market by a flight of steps, and displays a deeply-recessed
pointed arch; a similar one is seen from the College-hill entrance. One
portion of the building forms the WATCH ROOM and POLICE STATION of the
town, and some of the spacious vaults beneath are used as a temporary
receptacle for midnight disorderlies.
Nearly adjoining, in the street leading to the Corn-market, is the TALBOT
HOTEL, where the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria alighted on
their visit to this town in 1832, on which occasion the mayor and
corporation waited upon them with a congratulatory address.