Magistrates Court And Attached Front Wall, Gates And Railings

This is a Magistrates' Court with attached front wall, gates and railings, originally built as law courts, a police station and fire station in 1890-92 by Huon A Matear. The building is constructed of red brick laid in English garden-wall bond with ashlar stone dressings, and has a slate mansard roof with brick chimney stacks featuring sharply moulded ashlar cornices. The front boundary comprises wrought and cast-iron railings and gates set in a red brick wall with moulded stone coping.

Exterior

The building has two storeys with a basement and attic, presenting a nine-bay front with projecting centre and end bays. The centre bay is cross-gabled, the end bays polygonal, and there is an additional single-storey bay at the left end. The basement has a shouldered architrave door to the left and narrow single-pane sash windows beneath a lintel band.

The centre bay forms an elaborate frontispiece approached by steps leading to a gabled entrance porch of quoined pilasters surmounted by aedicular finials, with a shield of arms in the gable apex. Two pairs of panelled and traceried doors are recessed beneath a semicircular fanlight within a four-centred arch of three orders, with plain shafts separated by continuous bands of egg-and-ribbon moulding. A hoodmould on floral stops sits above, with both the arch and hood soffits carved with foliage. The first floor is flanked by plain angle pilasters with frieze blocks, tied by a moulded Tudor flower frieze; the attic floor by ogee-capped polygonal columns rising from pedestals with gargoyles carved in the round. Both floors have three two-light windows with round heads filled with stylised panel tracery, those on the first floor with transoms. A balustraded band forms the base of the gable, which contains a carved relief of Lord Mayor William Selby receiving the Civic Sword from Richard II. The gable apex is filled by the York City arms between supporters, beneath a canopied hood, and the finial is a figure of Justice bearing scales.

In the flanking ranges and end bays, ground floor windows are of two or three lights with ovolo moulded mullions and transoms, and flat lintels beneath a continuous hoodmould. On the first floor, flanking range windows are tripled round-headed sashes in four-centred architraves; in the end bays they repeat those in the centre bay, with Tudor flower frieze above. All are recessed in flush quoined openings over moulded sill strings. Beneath the ground floor window in the right end bay is an inscribed foundation stone. Across the flanking ranges, a Lombard eaves frieze supports a plain parapet with moulded coping, incorporating sunk panels filled with low relief mouldings. A moulded string beneath the frieze rings rainwater goods and forms cladding to hoppers. Attic windows are gabled dormers with finials. The end bays are crowned by carved panelled pedestals supporting pierced parapet ramped up to piers with obelisk finials; above rise ogee-capped pavilions with tall tapering finials and weathervanes.

In the single-storey bay to the left, steps lead up to round-headed panelled double doors beneath a semicircular arch of four orders with leaf-carved impost band. There is a blind arcaded eaves frieze and moulded cornice beneath a parapet with moulded coping. The cross-gable carries an ogee-capped clock tower with a dial to each face, on a square plinth supporting an open parapet with corner piers surmounted by ogee-capped pinnacles. The tower has angle pilasters which carry a broad frieze and moulded cornice with terminal segmental gablets, and is topped by a wrought-iron finial and weathercock.

The right return presents the front range gable wall of two storeys and basement to the left of a long two- and three-storey range with basement, terminating in an octagonal turret with steeply pitched roof surmounted by an ogee-capped lantern with three tapering finials with filigree crosspieces. The gable wall has a corbelled extruded chimney stack on a carved base. To the right, the first bay of the long range is occupied by paired boarded doors with semicircular overlights. Above is a two-storey canted staircase window of four canted mullioned lights on a moulded bracket with lion mask. Further right is a glazed and panelled double door with semicircular fanlight in a flush quoined surround with moulded impost band and keyed moulded arch beneath a moulded cornice hood on sunk-panel pilasters. Towards the right end, a flat carriage arch closed by boarded double doors leads to an inner yard. Beyond, the former fire engine houses have fronts framed in slender cast-iron colonnettes with bell capitals beneath a wide glazed frieze and moulded cornice on sunflower brackets. Two bays are closed by glazed and panelled double doors, the third by a similar screen. A glazed and panelled door with overlight at the right end has a doorcase of similar colonnette jambs and fluted impost band. Windows are paired or tripled, mullioned and transomed on ground and first floors, single-pane sashes on the second floor.

The river front has a plain board door in a double-chamfered doorway of moulded brick beneath a lintel arched in the centre over an incised date of 1890.

Interior

The entrance lobby and spine passage beyond have mosaic floors, with the lobby floor incorporating the City of York arms with Cap of Maintenance over crossed sword and mace. The outside doorcase has carved pilasters on pedestals faced with glazed tiles, and an impost band on consoles, beneath a four-light semicircular fanlight with baluster mullions. Two pairs of double doors—the lower parts sunk panelled, upper parts cinquefoiled with square lattice glazing—lead to the spine passage. Inner doorcases have panelled pilasters with imposts, fluted friezes and moulded cornices, beneath overdoors with enriched console and bracket cornice hoods on sunk panelled jambs flanking semicircular fanlights. Other doors and doorcases in the lobby and passage are similar but without overdoors.

The walls of the lobby and passage are articulated by pilasters with moulded necking and imposts, on tall pedestals faced with tile panels of chrysanthemums. Dado tiling beneath a frieze of rosettes and leaves and a fluted dado rail incorporates panels of raised foliage in the lobby, and basketwork pattern in the passage.

The entrance lobby has a marble chimneypiece with detached Doric columns supporting a frieze inset with moulded composition panels of gambolling putti, and a massive moulded cornice mantelshelf. Tiled slips depict the Tree of Life with a centre panel of City of York arms between bird supporters. The lobby ceiling is deeply coffered with sunk panelled moulded beams carried on squat marble columns on tall chrysanthemum tiled pedestals, with coffering enclosed by cornices enriched with shell and flute mouldings on foliate brackets. The passage ceiling is divided by heavy sunk panelled beams.

The main staircase at the left end of the passage has a wrought-iron balustrade of rinceaux, serpentine moulded handrail and fluted turned newel with ball finial. A canted mullion and transom window on the staircase has four leaded lights with coloured glazing. At the right end of the passage, a glazed screen wall with ovolo mullions and panelled door leads to a secondary staircase with open ironwork balustrade, moulded handrail and tapered column newel. The canted four-light staircase window is mullioned and double transomed with square lattice lights.

The Sessions Court and Police Court are entered from the passage through panelled double doors with embossed glass overlights containing court names. Both courts rise through the full height of the building and are panelled beneath giant pilasters with dentilled necking and moulded capitals. Ceilings are coved and coffered with broad beams and ribs, the beams incorporating bands of pierced quatrefoil vents, rising to rectangular lanterns lit by six-pane windows separated by squat pilasters carrying coved and coffered ceiling on moulded brackets.

Original furniture and fittings survive, including the Grand Jury Gallery in the Sessions Court, which is carried on fluted pilasters and has a balustrade of turned balusters over a sunk panel plinth and moulded rail ramped up to square newels, with two tiers of benches. A panelled door at the rear sits beneath an overlight embossed with a name beneath a dentil cornice overdoor. The Police Court has memorial tablets to Members of York City Police who died in the two World Wars.

Boundary Features

The area wall at the front is approximately 1.5 metres high, between piers approximately 2 metres high. Railings are panels approximately half a metre high, of palmate scrolls enclosing foliate stems, between square section standards. Gate bars are square section, with a top rail of similar panels.