Former Police Station and attached railings

This former police station, designed by Charles William Davies Joynson, was built between 1899 and 1902. It is made of red brick with buff terracotta dressings and has a slate roof.

The building is roughly U-shaped, with a rear courtyard to the east that has been partially filled with 20th-century extensions. It stands over two storeys plus a basement, with its main façade facing Crescent Road. In front of the building is a sunken trench that allows light into the basement windows. The central section is flanked by two wings that have pediments, terracotta quoins, and oculi with moulded terracotta surrounds at the gable ends. The right wing features a prominent entrance styled after Norman Shaw’s New Scotland Yard, complete with blocked half-columns and a segmental pediment that has the words ‘POLICE STATION’ in moulded lettering. The ground floor windows and entrance to the left wing have shallow semi-circular heads with terracotta hood moulds and keystones. The steps leading to the entrances create a bridge over the trench. The first-floor windows each have nine-light upper sashes. The roof is adorned with ornamental red terracotta ridge tiles and has four brick and terracotta chimneys. At the rear, there are two ranges with hipped roofs, and the space between these wings has been partially filled with a later flat-roofed extension that includes central roof lights.

Inside, the original staircases with turned newel posts and pinnacles are believed to remain, along with tiling, fireplaces, internal doors, skirtings, architraves, and other architectural details. The main double doors are thought to be part-glazed with stained glass in leaded lights.

The front of the building features wrought iron railings and modern handrails at the main entrance.