Brentwood County Court House

BRENTWOOD

TQ5993 NEW ROAD 723-1/12/94 (West side) 20/02/76 Brentwood County Court House (Formerly Listed as: NEW ROAD County Court)

II

Court house. c1840. Gault brick in Flemish bond, with dressings of stucco and stone, roofed with slate. Main block aligned approximately NE-SW, of 2-storey height (but largely comprising a high single-storey courtroom), with an axial stack at each end and a stack in the NW elevation. 2 single-storey annexes on each long elevation, and a single-storey vestibule across whole NE elevation, facing New Road. C20 single-storey lean-to extension at SW end. EXTERIOR: the front elevation has 3 sashes of 4 lights with original moulded surrounds, consoles below, semicircular heads with projecting keys, and pilasters with moulded bases and capitals, all of stucco. 2 original boarded flush 4-panel doors with plain overlights, pilasters with moulded bases and capitals, and segmental arches with projecting keys. Moulded plinth. 4 rusticated pilasters; moulded stone cornice on paired stucco consoles. `Brentwood County Court' in embossed letters on frieze. Plain parapet, and standing above the centre, royal arms, painted and gilt. In the front gable of the main block is a circular recess. Low-pitched roof with parapet gables; plain stone copings. Each axial stack has a moulded stone cornice. Each side of the main block has at the level of an upper storey 3 pairs of sashes of 4 lights with semicircular brick arches. Upper part of rear gable and stack rebuilt in C20. The rear elevation of the right rear annexe (the judge's retiring room) has one original sash of 6+6 lights with a flat brick arch; it has an individual hipped roof. The rear elevation of the left front annexe has been altered, with a half-glazed door, and a blocked original aperture above with a flat brick arch. The left rear annexe is a later lean-to extension. INTERIOR: the courtroom has been altered by the insertion of a partition at the NE end, so that some original internal features are now in the solicitors' and counsels' lobby. The windows have pilasters, capitals and arches of moulded plaster. Moulded arch above door to judge's retiring room. Moulded cornice immediately below window sills, and moulded ceiling cornice. 2 transverse beams and 2 longitudinal beams, all plastered. Moulded wooden canopy on cast-iron scrolled brackets above judge's seat. The judge's retiring room has a similar ceiling cornice. All original internal wall surfaces have a recessed boarded moulding about one metre above the ground floor. Subject to an application at time of survey. August 1989.

Listing NGR: TQ5950393610