Sessions House

Sessions House

This building of 1821 was erected in yellow gault brick and now serves as a Grade II* listed structure of considerable architectural importance.

The building has a broadly rectangular plan with a central, broad bow to the rear. Two single-storey wings break forward at the north and south ends in the style of pavilions. The structure is two storeys in height, topped by a shallow-pitched slate-covered roof.

The street-front elevation of the main range is seven bays wide and dominated by a pedimented portico carried on four fluted Doric columns with simple moulded heads that have been sympathetically repaired in the late 20th century. The columns stand above a triglyph frieze that is carried onto the face of the building at eaves level. The tympanum is plain but contains the Royal coat of arms. Behind the columns, four plain pilasters are set on the façade, with the outer two clasping the corners of a shallow break-forward that contains the three central bays. A central double doorway with a simple small-paned over-light is flanked by the inner two pilasters. At the upper level, the bays contain double-hung 6 over 6 hornless sashes with prominent stucco architraves. A stucco band runs across at sill level. The ground-floor level is defined by four doorways, including the central double-doors, the southerly two of which compromise the regularity of the bays, resulting in the placing between them of two narrow sash windows.

To the north, a short single-storey section links the main range with the north pavilion block and contains a doorway. The pavilion blocks to the north and south have clasping brick pilasters which are carried upwards to form the corners of open stone-balustraded parapets. The northern block contains a single, recessed, round-headed window opening framed by a prominent stucco architrave with keystone, containing a sash window. The southern block is lit by two cast-iron, small-paned cell windows with heavy sills and lintels. The railings date from the late 20th century. At the rear of the southern block, a single-storey, flat-roofed brick plant room has been added. To the north, the link between the main block and the north block has been recently rebuilt at the rear, perhaps to create the doorway.

Interior

The main entrance double doors give access to an entrance lobby which runs along the front of the building, behind which is the main courtroom. From the lobby rise two flights of stairs. The southerly stair has square handrails and newels and turned balusters and rises to the upper floor. That to the north gives access to the rear of the main courtroom. The foot of the southerly stairs has been turned in the late 20th century so that the lower flight of treads runs along the lobby. To its right, a doorway with a semi-circular over-light and arched glazing bars contains a pair of doors with oval lights and leads to the pavilion block at the south end. The block contains four holding cells, two on either side of a north-south corridor. Recorded as having 19th-century fittings in the late 20th century, they now have modern doors, benches and stainless steel toilets. One of the original doors has been retained and is on display.

The main courtroom lies at the heart of the building and rises through both storeys. The Magistrates' bench is contained within the broad bow to the rear of the building and matches its curvilinear form. It is fronted by a blind balustrade, projecting centrally to allow for a raised lectern. The balustrade is capped by a sloping, varnished writing surface with a lipped edge and ink wells. Before the pedestal, fixed panelling encloses the sloping writing desk of the clerk, fixed to a large table that dominates the central area. The panelled rectangular dock faces the table, its sides raised in the 20th century by the addition of a glazed screen to the front and a balustrade on the other three sides. The floor level around the dock has been lowered in the late 20th century. To the sides of the courtroom, simple benches provide galleries, contained within boxing with ramped sides. At the upper storey level, tiers of benches are provided for the jury's gallery on the north side, behind a balustrade, and the public gallery at the west end behind a pier and panel front. Access to the upper galleries is via four-panel doors at that level. There have been alterations over time in addition to those to the dock: some of the bench seats have been renewed, for example, and some ironmongery is modern, but the majority of the original joinery appears to have survived.

At each end of the magistrates' bench, round-headed doorways give access to stair lobbies, from which dog-leg stairs rise to the upper storey. The staircases have stick balusters and turned newels with domed caps, in an early 19th-century form. Some balusters have been enclosed but appear to survive. At first-floor level, the room to the north provides the magistrates' retiring room, with an inner sash window offering at once light and a view of the main courtroom. A fireplace offered heat from the north wall; the surround appearing to be early 19th-century in date. Three rooms on the south side now form a second courtroom and service rooms. A slender king-post roof is exposed here, with an expanded base and angle struts supporting the principals beneath a single tier of chamfered purlins. The post is strapped to the tie. Doors appear to be modern and the courtroom furniture is late-20th century in date.

Access to the roof was limited, but from what could be seen, the main roof is perhaps queen-post in form with pegged joints and is likely to be early 19th-century in date. No access was gained to the north pavilion block, but it would appear to have been refurbished and modernised internally, with modern doors and joinery.