Sessions House

The Sessions House is a courthouse dating from 1900-3, designed by Henry Littler. It occupies a large rectangular site bounded by Harris Street, Lancaster Road, and Birley Street in Preston. Constructed of sandstone ashlar, the building is in the Edwardian Baroque style.

The building is three stories high with a basement, and is symmetrical on all three sides. The principal facade, facing Harris Street, features a 1:5:1:5:1 window arrangement, with the central and end bays projecting. The ground floor has a rustic treatment, with coupled giant Ionic columns at the centre and outer bays, a moulded frieze, a modillioned cornice, pediments to the outer bays, and an open-segmental pediment to the centre. A balustraded parapet rises to the level of the pediments, topped by a tower over the central bay.

The central entrance has a porch with blocked columns, a round-headed concave doorway with a convex balcony above; a round-headed window sits above this, featuring elaborate detailing including figures on the pediment and an oculus framed by swags, with an embellished shield in the pediment. The tower rises in four diminishing stages, with the three upper stages featuring free-standing Ionic columns and extensive ornamentation. The ground floor windows are wide, semi-circular headed tripartite sashes with blocked surrounds and voussoirs. The first and second floors have 24-pane and 12-pane sashes respectively, with moulded architraves, the first floor windows featuring cornices. Convex balconies front tall round-headed windows with enriched open pediments, while segmental-headed windows are positioned above these. The hipped roof is concealed and features enriched chimney stacks.

The east and west facades, with a 1:3:1 window arrangement, have recessed centres above the rustic ground floor, incorporating four Ionic semi-columns and windows similar to those on the front facade. The outer bays are distinguished by pedimented architraves over the windows. The east side has two round-headed doorways in the rustic ground floor, and the west side incorporates a segmental-headed archway to the left.

The interior is richly decorated, featuring two principal courtrooms with pilastered panelling. A panelled library includes swags, while a panelled former dining room boasts fine architraves to the doors. The magistrates' cloakroom is furnished with Purbeck marble.