Brentwood Library

A police station, now a public library, designed in 1844 and completed in 1851. The building was extended in the later 19th century and converted to library use around 1932. It is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with dressings of gault brick and stucco, and roofed with slate. The original structure has a square plan with a central stack and an entrance porch to the east. A large 19th-century extension was added to the north, with smaller single-storey extensions flanking the porch to north and south. A small single-storey building originally standing north-east of the police station, dating to the same period or soon after, is now connected to the north extension.

The main building is two storeys tall. On the west elevation (towards Library Road), the ground floor has two original sash windows of 8+8 lights with painted reveals, flat brick arches and some handmade glass. The first floor has two original sashes of 8+4 lights, similarly detailed and symmetrically arranged. Projecting quoins of gault brick rise on both storeys. The elevation is finished with a plain frieze, simple moulded cornice and plain parapet, all stuccoed. A pyramidal roof crowns the structure.

The south elevation (towards Queen's Road) displays a central sash window on each floor, similar to those on the west, with a later sash of 6+6 lights also on the ground floor. The quoin and eaves details match those of the west elevation.

The east elevation features an entrance porch which obscures much of the lower storey, except for the south-east quoin above the side extension. The door has two beaded flush panels and two glazed panels, set within chamfered brick jambs and a chamfered shallow segmental arch of gault brick. One original limestone step survives. The porch itself is finished with a plain frieze, simple cornice and parapet of stucco, and a flat roof. To the south, a small extension is keyed into the main structure, with some original quoin bricks reused to form a matching south-east return. This extension also has a simple stucco cornice and parapet with a flat roof.

Inside, windows on the north side of both storeys retain rare internal shutters of double sash type. Such shutters are seldom found in buildings of this period except on ground floors, making these survivals of special interest requiring careful preservation. The original dogleg stair features a closed string, turned pine newels, stick balusters and a moulded pine handrail.

The police station has particular historic significance as one of the earliest positively identified police stations in England. Essex was the first English county to establish a police force under the County Police Act of 1839. The site was acquired by the Justices of the Peace on 27 February 1840 from John Duncan. It was bounded to the south by Queen's Road, to the west by Well Lane (now Library Road), and to the north by Back Road (now Coptfield Road). The builder's agreement with Thomas Hill is dated 23 March 1844 and includes a site plan and south and west elevations showing a second porch to the north-west, similar to the surviving porch, and a single-storey wing extending north. Part of this former porch is now incorporated within the brickwork of the present north extension. The police station opened in 1851, with no recorded explanation for the delay in construction.