The Old Police Buildings To The North East Of The Town Hall And Former Sessions Court

The Old Police Buildings to the north-east of the Town Hall and Former Sessions Court, Priory Street

Former Police Headquarters and Police station buildings, including a Superintendent's house, for the Borough of Dudley, now used as municipal offices. Designed by Harvey Eginton in 1847 and probably added to by Henry Rowe in 1858. The buildings are constructed of red brick with ashlar dressings and comprise two storeys with three-storey turrets.

Exterior

The entrance front facing Priory Street features a gateway at the left with battered and battlemented square towers either side, forming a barbican with a false portcullis channel, machicolations and battlements above the gate. The wooden gates have a grid of iron straps creating the impression of a portcullis. To the right is a stretch of walling with battlements, and the front ends with a tapered octagonal tower also featuring battlements. Two and three light mullioned windows run along the length of the building, though a photograph from around 1900 shows the police building formerly had fewer openings, with several taking the form of false arrow loops that lit corridors on the ground and first floor levels leading to cells.

Projecting north-west from the rear of the police building is a wing, formerly housing cells and offices, which connects to the Superintendent's house. The Superintendent's house formerly had an area of garden in the central yard. Its entrance front is now joined to later buildings, but its former garden front features three bays of red and yellow brick facing north-west with a prominent basement level. Above this, the ground floor has canted bay windows either side of a door with chamfered surround. There is a central staircase window at mezzanine level and two light mullioned windows to either side at first floor level. The basement has been partially rebuilt and the ground floor door is now approached by a metal fire escape ladder.

Interior

Inside the old police building, the space behind the barbican gate has doors with four-centred arches either side, though otherwise internal spaces have been altered to accommodate offices. The former Superintendent's house has cornicing to two ground floor rooms and a staircase with stick balusters and chamfered newels with carved finials.

A portion of the building adjoining the north-west of the old police buildings and erected in the 1990s is of lesser importance.

History

The rectangular island site has housed various municipal buildings since the mid-19th century. The Police buildings were the first such structure on the site. The former town hall building, on a corner site facing Priory Street and Priory Road, was designed by Rowe in 1858 in Gothic style to blend with the pattern of the existing Police buildings. The library building facing St. James's Road was opened in 1908 to the designs of G.H. Wenyon.

Adjoining the Old Police Buildings to their south is a range of buildings including the Sessions Court, War Memorial Tower, Coroner's Court and Town Hall, all designed by Harvey and Wicks and opened in 1928. To the north is the Council House, also by Harvey and Wicks, opened in 1935.

Part of the police buildings complex, probably added at a later date to the initial building, was a close of houses opening onto Priory Road. These appear on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1884, and on the second edition map of 1904 are marked as 'Police Buildings', and again on the third edition map of 1919. They appear to have been individual houses for policemen and their families, overlooked by a Superintendent's house to the south. The close was demolished to make way for the Council House, though the Superintendent's house survives. These are believed to be part of work carried out by Rowe at the same time he designed the Old Town Hall Building. The Superintendent's House was altered in the late 19th or early 20th century when an extension was added, masking the south-eastern front. Alterations were made to the fenestration of the Old Police Building fronting Priory Street, most probably around 1935 at the time of building the adjacent Council House. The former arrow loop windows were replaced by a series of mullioned casements with ashlar surrounds.

In the late 20th century an extensive range was built behind the St. James Street front.