The Assembly Rooms were designed and built in 1805 by Richard Ingleman and were used by the gentry and well-to-do for meetings, dances and entertainment. At this period Southwell was a social as well as administrative and ecclesiastical centre, so subscribers were attracted from a wide area. Fashionable young men and women flocked to the dances, held on the first floor, while their elders enjoyed card games and society gossip.