Amounderness House

Amounderness House is a police station and magistrates' court, now used as courtrooms, built in 1857 and enlarged in 1901 by architect J.H. Park. The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar with red brick at the rear and has slate roofs. It is designed in a U-plan, consisting of the original block with a rear wing facing Earl Street and an additional wing on the south side, which also has a rear wing. The architectural style is classical, featuring two storeys, likely over cellars, and a three-stage tower on the addition.

The original range presents a symmetrical five-window façade, complete with a plinth and a channelled rusticated ground floor. The first floor has rusticated quoins, and there is a frieze inscribed "ERECTED BY THE CORPORATION A.D.1857 LAWRENCE SPENCER ESQUIRE MAYOR." The building is topped with a prominent modillioned cornice and a balustraded parapet adorned with ball finials. The central entrance features a round-headed doorway framed by coupled engaged Tuscan columns and a prominent cornice. Above the doorway is a window supported by pairs of panelled pilasters and consoles, which hold a pediment with a lamb and flag, along with a round-headed upstand in the parapet that displays a shield. All windows are sashed without glazing bars, with first-floor windows paired under cornices on consoles.

The two-window right-hand return matches the main style. The rear wing is constructed of heavily rusticated rock-faced masonry and has five windows, mostly round-headed, with barred ground-floor windows. The end bay includes a square-headed doorway and a window above, both with cornices. Beyond this is a lower two-storey cell-block with small semicircular windows at ground level and round-headed windows above, all fitted with grills. The 1901 addition facing Lancaster Road is styled similarly but is longer, featuring articulated three-two-one-two window arrangements. The square tower rises one stage higher, with a prominent cornice and balustraded parapet, and the ground and first-floor openings are framed by coupled blocked columns. The interior has not been inspected.