Crown Court

Crown Court, built around 1811 by George Moneypenny and Ignatius Bonomi, is an important example of Italianate architecture. The building features a sandstone ashlar exterior and a graduated Lakeland slate roof on the main block, with Welsh slate on the wings. The structure consists of a two-storey, seven-bay main block flanked by wings. The central block has a pedimented, projecting three-bay section, with the end bays slightly forward. Four giant engaged Tuscan columns define the central area, which includes three part-glazed, studded six-panel double doors set in architraves on the banded rusticated ground floor. The first floor has margined casement windows, with taller windows in the centre and altered upper lights in the outer bays, which are set in two-storey recesses. The central first-floor windows are protected by wrought-iron guards. The building is topped with an entablature and a blocking course, and features a central chamfered square clock tower with a deep cornice and a leaded dome.

The wings are tall and single-storey, with a three-bay layout and a projecting banded centre bay that forms voussoirs above tall carriage arches, which have lattice-barred tympana and continuous stone impost bands. Small casements are located next to the centre block, while the rest of the wings are blank, topped with a parapet above the eaves band. The chimneys above the inner bays are very tall, arcaded, and deeply corniced. The entrance is accessed by four steps leading to a terrace, which is adorned with wrought- and cast-iron side rails and stone corner piers with lampholders. The rear elevation features a tall bowed courtroom exterior with classical detailing. The interior was altered around 1870 by W. Crozier.