No. 2 Dalton Square (the middle building in the photograph) was home of Dr. Buck Ruxton, the Lancaster murderer who killed his wife and servant in 1935.  Next door, to the right, is Palatine Hall which now houses Council offices.  It was previously the County Cinema and before that, the Hippodrome variety hall and opera house. Originally it was a Catholic chapel built in 1798.

The Friars first settled in around 1260. The precinct was 12 acres in extent and was bounded to the west by Penny Street and to the north by St. Nicholas Street and Moor Lane. Its southern and eastern boundaries are marked by modern George Street and the canal.  The site was sold to Sir Thomas Holcroft at dissolution in 1539 for £126 10s and a house called the Frierage was built, incorporating some of the Friary buildings.  Its position is shown on Speed's map of 1610 (no 18). 

John Dalton obtained an Act to develop the Frierage site in 1784. The original design by Edward Batty was never fully implemented because of an economic decline at the end of the 18th century. Fragments of the precinct wall survived into the 19th century as shown on this 1845 map.  The square was redesigned  in Edwardian times. 

The new Town Hall was designed by E W Mountford, who also designed the Old Bailey in London, and paid for by Lord Ashton. It was opened in December 1909, replacing the old Town Hall in Market Square. It originally contained police headquarters and courts as well as council offices.