Judges Lodgings And Attached Railings

Judges’ Lodgings and attached railings, now offices, were constructed around 1834-35 and later altered. The building was designed by Charles Day and Henry Rowe. It is built of pinkish-red brick with flat arches made of red gauged brick, and features an ashlar porch, cornice, sills, and copings. The roof is concealed. Attached cast-iron railings are also part of the property.

The building's plan is based around a central hallway. The exterior is three stories high on a basement level, with three bays and a 1:1:1 arrangement of first-floor windows. The outer bays project forward. A single-story, distyle Roman Doric portico in antis sits centrally, topped by a renewed balustrade. A flight of steps leads to a double four-panel door with sidelights and a divided overlight. Tripartite windows are present throughout, with 6/6 sashes between 2/2 sashes on the upper stories, and smaller windows on the third story. All are set in plain reveals with flat arches of gauged brick, with sills to the ground and first floors. A frieze and moulded cornice run over the first floor, with a continuous third-floor sill band above. A crowning cornice and coped parapet complete the exterior. The returns are three windows deep, with similar fenestration.

The interior retains original joinery, plasterwork, and marble fireplaces. The main hall includes an imperial staircase with cast-iron balusters and a wreathed handrail, and an oval skylight. The upper landing features paired Doric pilasters and a dentil cornice. There is a four-panel door. An openwell service staircase to the rear has a ramped and wreathed oak handrail and cast-iron balusters extending the full height. The library has picture rails and a moulded cornice, along with a marble fireplace and a ceiling rose. The dining room includes a marble fireplace, ceiling rose, and dentil cornice. Shutters are present on some ground-floor windows.

The attached railings run alongside the steps and feature a cross-motif on the panels, topped with anthemians, although they have been renewed. The building represents an exceptional example of early 19th-century villa architecture in a severe Grecian style, designed to complement the Shire Hall on Foregate Street by the same architects.