Police Station

A police station and magistrates' court was constructed in the 1840s. It is built of red brick with gault brick dressings, and has slate roofs.

The east elevation is nearly symmetrical, featuring a central advanced gable with a canted bay on the ground floor. This bay has a two-light transomed stone mullioned window, with single-light windows on each side. Above is a single two-light stone mullioned window. The gable has kneelers and displays the Essex County coat of arms. Recessed gabled bays flank the central section, each with a gabled porch with a moulded four-centred arch and a plank door. A two-light stone mullioned window sits above each porch. Further recessed bays are located to the right and left; the north bay has a two-light mullioned and transomed window on the ground floor, and the south bay features a single-storey hipped outshut with a similar window. Five ridge stacks feature rectangular plinths and two or three diamond flues with gault brick edging. The north and south gables each have a two-light transomed casement window on the ground floor, and a two-light untransomed casement on the first floor. The rear elevation includes a single-storey office to the north with single-light casements, and a courtroom to the south, featuring a two-light mullioned window on the north gable and two small single-light casements to the west, separated by a plank door. A single-storey west extension has three six-over-six horned sash windows.

A cell block is located in the ground floor of the main range. The passage is lit by two heavily barred windows in granite surrounds. The first floor has three steel casements added in the mid-20th century. The interior includes four-panelled doors on the ground floor and two stick-baluster staircases, located adjacent to the east entrances and separated by the main office. The office has a 20th-century counter. There are two holding cells opening off a secure corridor, which itself has an inner iron lattice door and an outer studded plank timber door. The passage is barrel vaulted, with squinches over the two west windows, and includes two water cisterns for toilet flushing and a cast-iron stove. Each cell has a studded timber outer door and an iron lattice inner door, secured with sliding bolts built into the masonry. A further studded timber door divides the corridor into two areas. The cells have ventilation grilles above the doors and flat timber beds incorporating a flushing toilet under a hinged lid. Barrel-vaulted ceilings are present throughout. The courtroom has a raised dais, a barrel vaulted ceiling, and plaster cornices, and contains a cast-iron register insert to the fireplace.