The Derby Guildhall, completed in 1842 to designs by Henry Duesbury, is a handsome Italianate building facing the Market Place. Its arcaded ground floor, clock tower, and ordered stonework give the Market Place the gravity that many English town centres of similar size lack. The building functioned as the seat of local government for over a century and still hosts civic events.
The War Memorial in front of it, designed by C.C. Thompson and unveiled in 1924, is one of the more dignified in the East Midlands. The whole Market Place ensemble — Guildhall, memorial, QUAD arts centre on one side, and the indoor market behind — gives the city centre a genuine civic character that is worth taking in before moving on to the individual attractions.