The building was commissioned by the British and Foreign School Society as a British School. The site they selected, on the southeast side of the High Street, was made available by the lord of the manor, Charles Marius Hardy, under a conveyance dated 11 October 1810.[2] Hardy had only just become lord of the manor earlier that year.[3] The new school was completed in 1811.[2][4]
A new facade, designed by Richard Sheppard in the neoclassical style, was built in yellow brick and completed in 1845. It accommodated the county court in a room on the first floor. After a new school in Bury Street was completed in 1896, the building became vacant and, in 1899, it was leased to the Newport Pagnell Town Hall Company, for 99 years, at a rent of £10 a year, for use as an events venue.[5] Around this time, a new wing was added, in the Art Nouveau style, containing a stage and offices. In 1937, the building was acquired by the Church of England which renamed it Church House, although it continued in use as the town's main meeting place, hosting concerts, theatrical performances and dances.[4][6] The building was not used for municipal purposes: at that time the offices of the local urban district council were at No. 60 High Street.[7]
By the early 1980s, the parish church council was in urgent need of funds for repairs to the Church of St Peter and St Paul and decided to sell Church House.[8] It sold the building to the Baptist church and the first Baptist prayer meeting there took place in July 1983. However, the Baptist church were in need of larger premises and relocated to the Lovat Hall in spring 1997.[9][10] In 1998, the building was acquired by a developer and converted into apartments.[11]
