City Police Courts

The City Police Courts, located on Minshull Street in Manchester, were built between 1868 and 1871 by architect Thomas Worthington. This striking building is constructed of red brick with sandstone dressings and features steeply-pitched slate roofs. It has a rectangular plan situated on a corner site and is designed in the Italian Gothic style.

The structure rises two-and-a-half storeys above a basement and includes a tower at the north-west corner. The facade is divided into a pattern of bays: 1:3:3:3:1, with the center bay featuring a gable, the left end marked by the tower, and the right end showcasing a turret. Architectural details include a moulded stone plinth, impost bands, an enriched sill-band on the first floor, a Lombard frieze, and a stone parapet that steps up to the center gable, which is adorned with tourelles at the corners.

The main entrance is a central 2-centred arched doorway framed by a gabled surround, featuring shafts with carved crocket caps. Above this doorway are three 2-centred arched 2-light windows, and in the gable, there is an arcaded 5-light attic window. The side ranges have 2, 3, and 2-light windows on both floors, all with shafts and 2-centred arched lights that are linked by hoodmoulds. There is an additional doorway at the right-hand end, which has slightly different window arrangements, an arcaded 7-light attic window, and a saddle-back roof.

A very tall octagonal chimney rises behind the ridge, while the tall square tower to the left features decorative bands, a 3-light window on the first floor with a balcony, two small lancets on the next stage, a clock face in an arched surround, and an elaborate stone top stage with corner tourelles and an arcaded belfry capped by a slated pyramidal roof. The left return facing Bloom Street maintains a similar architectural style, with a central doorway and windows arranged in a pattern of 3, 3, 2, 3, and 3 lights, as well as two large gables, each containing a 2-centred blank arch with two 2-light windows. The interior has not been inspected but likely contains features of comparable quality to the exterior.