The Doughty Centre, Adjoining Screen Wall And Former Fire Station

The Doughty Centre, formerly a girls' school and fire station, was built in 1863 for Grimsby Corporation, with a later 19th-century fire station added to the rear. Subsequent alterations and additions have occurred. The building is constructed of yellow brick with brown brick and ashlar dressings, and has a concrete tile roof.

The building is L-shaped, with the school facing the front and the fire station forming an addition to the rear. The front section of the school is single-storeyed, with a projecting entrance bay to the left and a symmetrical three-bay section to the right, the central bay of which is pedimented. The front features channelled and banded rustication with brown brick detailing. A round-headed entrance has a recessed panelled door beneath an original two-pane fanlight and a moulded ashlar arch with fluted impost bands and a tall stepped keystone. The symmetrical section to the right has a continuous projecting ashlar sill band and windows in recessed panels. Narrow two-over-two sash windows with margin lights are set beneath segmental brick arches with tall ashlar keystones, all linked by a continuous string course. A bold wooden modillioned cornice tops the facade. An ashlar panel below the cornice displays the inscription "ERECTED AD 1863," while a blocking course is centered with a triangular-headed section bearing the inscription “GIRLS SCHOOL.” The adjoining screen wall, approximately 7 metres long, has a plinth, piers, channelled rustication, stone coping, and two former doorways blocked with matching brick.

The former fire station is of similar style and materials. It has two storeys and three bays, with a narrower bay to the far right. Rusticated pilasters are between the bays, and the first floor features plate-glass windows within keyed segmental arches, linked by a string course. A moulded wooden eaves cornice sits above a hipped concrete tile roof. A late 20th-century projecting ground-floor addition has been made.

The interior of the building has not been inspected. The former Girls School and the former Grammar School (now the Registrar's Office) form flanking pavilions to the Town Hall.