B Block

This is an armoury, later used as an Officers' Mess, constructed in 1804. It was designed by Thomas Harrison of Chester and built using Cuyper sandstone ashlar from the Manley quarries and Bunter sandstone ashlar, with slate roofs and lead flashings. The facade facing Castle Square has nine bays, with a high, projecting plinth supporting monolithic half-columns of Greek Doric form between the bays and at the ends. These columns support a projecting, plain entablature with a parapet above, which rests on a slightly projecting plinth and is divided by projecting piers. Between the floors is a series of plain panels with moulded surrounds, creating a decorative band. The central ground-floor doorway is a double doorway with three-panel doors and a rectangular overlight, set within a moulded surround and a pediment supported on fluted consoles that terminate in roundels. Ground-floor sash windows, each with three by four panes, are flanked by aedicular surrounds of a compressed entablature supported by fluted consoles. First-floor sash windows have three by two panes. An archway on the left side adjoins the front and connects with a lateral colonnade of the Assize Courts Block, constructed of rusticated stone with a segmental arch, dentilled cornice and a central panel within the parapet, set within a moulded surround. The left side has three bays, featuring a projecting plinth, panel and entablature similar to the front. A double ground-floor entrance is flanked by blank windows; a first-floor sash window, three by three panes, sits above, with blank windows on either side. The right-hand side mirrors the left, with a blank central window and sash windows of three by four panes, a first-floor window with three by two panes and blank windows on either side. The front and side elevations were funded by the county, while the rear was funded by the government. The building is of major importance as a component of the wider composition incorporating the Assize Court Block, Propylaea, and Blocks A and B. It includes stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops.