The Court House

The Court House is a former courthouse and gateway to a former gaol, now serving as a restaurant and apartments. It was built in 1822 by John Dobson and is designed in the Castellated Gothic style using ashlar stone. The building features a massive square front block with square side towers and an 8-sided apsidal back. It stands three storeys tall and has three bays. The central carriage entry is Tudor-arched and set within a two-storey pointed-arched recess with a triple-chamfered arch. On the first floor, there is a two-light Decorated window and a very large Civic crest on the second floor. The canted outer bays are accented by large broached buttresses at the corners. The first floor has small diamond-paned windows with shouldered lintels, while the second floor features large mullioned-and-transomed crosses with shouldered lintels. The building is topped with a battlemented parapet supported by large close-set triple-stop corbels.

Inside, there is a vaulted passageway that includes one bay of rib vaulting followed by a pointed tunnel vault with transverse ribs. The interior features a Gothic stone imperial stair with a plaster lierne vault. The former courtroom, now a bar and restaurant, boasts an elaborate Tudor-Gothic ceiling divided into eight large triangles, each with large moulded principal ribs on arched braces. Each triangle is further subdivided by smaller ribs and cross ribs, culminating in tracery at the apex. Additionally, there is an 8-sided, canted stone screen with eight pointed-arched doorways and a pierced parapet adorned with Tudor-rose panels.