Manor Court House

Manor Court House is a court house, now used as offices and a library, built between 1802 and 1803 for Alexander Johnson, who was Lord of the Manor. A later 19th-century rear addition and infilling to the ground-floor arcade were also added. The front of the building is constructed from fine red brick in a Flemish bond, with ashlar dressings; the infilling uses red brick with yellow brick and ashlar dressings. A rendered plinth runs along the front, and the roof is covered in Welsh slate. The building is rectangular in plan, with a later coach-house outshut to the rear. It has two storeys and five bays. The ground floor features an arcade of five painted ashlar elliptical arches, each with a key and channelled design, supported by brick pilasters with moulded ashlar bases and raised imposts. The fourth bay contains a round-headed entrance with steps leading to a two-fold door of eight fielded panels and a three-pane fanlight featuring an oculus, all within a recessed panel topped with a three-course yellow brick header arch. The arches on either side have recessed panels containing tripartite windows with stepped round-headed lights and glazing bars, raised ashlar imposts, and yellow brick header arches. Above the entrance is a clock face inscribed “EMI 1837 19 82”. The first floor has recessed twelve-pane sashes within architraves, featuring narrow glazing bars and projecting sills beneath keyed and rusticated wedge lintels. A moulded eaves cornice tops the building, though an inappropriate 20th-century gutter is present. The roof is hipped, and there are three rear wall stacks. The right return has a segmental-headed recessed panel to the ground floor. At the rear, a twelve-pane sash stairwindow is visible on the first floor. The coach-house outshut has a segmental-headed carriage entrance with double boarded doors, a segmental-headed boarded-up window, and a round-headed door to the left. Inside, the entrance hall contains an original open-well staircase with a moulded handrail, column balusters and newel posts. Moulded cornices and four-panelled doors within architraves are found throughout. The Court House has been used by The Epworth Mechanics Institute since 1837, and their library is now housed on the first-floor hall. The rear outshut formerly housed the town's fire engine. An illustration from around 1858 depicts the open ground-floor arcade with plain iron railings.