Ladysmith Town hall

The first Town Hall in Ladysmith was built in 1893 at a cost of three thousand one hundred English pounds. By the turn of the century it had become too small and was subsequently enlarged.

By 1923 it again proved to be too small for the rapidly growing town and was enlarged to its present state. From the beginning of the siege the Town Hall was utilised as a Field Hospital, flying the Red Cross flag of Geneva. This did not prevent the Boer artillery from sighting on its clock tower and on several occasions the building was hit, causing some deaths and injuries. On the 20th December 1899 a Long Tom called Puffing Billy scored a direct hit on the tower of the Town Hall. The shell did not explode but nevertheless it did demolish a corner of the tower.