Judges Court And Attached Front Steps And Railings

Judges' Court is a house with attached front steps and railings, originally dating to the early 18th century with earlier origins, and subsequently altered in the later 18th and 19th centuries. The front and returns are of incised stucco, while the rear is of painted Flemish bond brick. The roof is covered in slate, with brick stacks and a gabled section to the right and a hipped section to the left, both hidden behind a flat parapet.

The two-storey house has a basement and attics, with a three-bay front. The basement windows are squat 8-pane sashes. Steps lead to a central front door of six raised and fielded panels, set within a keyed and fasciated round arch on plain pilasters with moulded imposts. Flanking the door are 12-pane sash windows. First-floor windows are 4-pane sashes, and a gabled dormer has a 2-light casement window. A raised first-floor band runs along the front, returning on the left side. The front steps have a flat handrail on square-section railings, with a wreathed design at the foot, a turned standard, and a shaped curtail step.

The rear has five windows over a basement and two storeys. A spiral stair leads down to a basement door, and two windows are blocked. The remaining windows are a mix of sashes with painted sills and vestigial brick arches. The left return has an irregular fenestration, with 12-pane sash windows flanking an inserted window on the ground floor, and 4-pane sashes flanking an inserted 9-pane fixed light on the first floor. The left attic window has two 6-pane lights, while the right has a single 9-pane fixed light. A fragment of a brick string course is visible at ground floor impost level.

The interior cellars are brick-vaulted. Ground-floor rooms to the right have bolection-moulded doorcases and panelled walls. One room features a fine chimneypiece with columns, a triglyph frieze, and a cornice shelf, with a panelled pilaster overmantel. The main staircase to the first floor has a close string, turned balusters, and square newels with a moulded, ramped-up handrail and a panelled dado. The lower flights of a secondary staircase have been renewed, while the upper flights have turned bulbous and splat balusters. Other rooms on the upper floors feature bolection-moulded fireplaces. Exposed timber-framed partition walls are located at the rear left of the first and attic floors. The roof is constructed of reused timbers. The house was used as lodgings for Assize Judges from the mid-18th century to 1806.