Blofield Court House

Blofield Court House

A court house built in 1905 by T.H.B. Hislop, the County Surveyor, with Thomas Gill of Norwich as contractor. The building is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with artificial stone dressings and slate roofs, designed in the Edwardian Baroque style.

The building has a rectangular plan consisting of an east-west section behind an entrance block, with holding cells at the rear linked by a narrow passageway.

The north entrance block is single-storeyed and comprises a centrepiece flanked by two window bays to the right and left. The central entrance bay features stone over brick with two tactic Roman Doric engaged columns and pilasters supporting block entablatures and a flat cornice with modillions. An arched opening with rustication and keystone is surrounded by stone banding that creates a recessed effect. Either side of this central feature is one narrow transomed casement within stone architraves. A brick pediment with moulded stone coping is gabled back to the main roof. The side bays each contain two 6/9 top-hung casements within stone architraves standing on stone sill bands, beneath a hipped roof.

The main east-west range contains the courtroom. The east return has three stepped top-hung casements with glazing bars under stone lintels and twin ventilation loops in the gable head. The west return features a 9-panelled door with the upper three panels glazed, beneath an overlight with glazing bars. A partly external stack is offset to the south of the gable apex. The south elevation is partly obscured by the cell block to the east but contains four windows: the eastern pair are 3-light casements with transoms under stone lintels, while the western pair are 6/2 horned sashes serving the south robing room. A timber louvered cupola sits on the roof ridge.

The single-storey cell block has a lean-to wash room to the east and a similar toilet to the west, with windows fitted with iron grilles.

Internally, a longitudinal corridor running east-west separates the courtroom to the south from waiting rooms to the north, finished with tiled dado. Two fixed windows in the north wall with 5 by 5 panes transmit light from the two waiting rooms. Both waiting rooms feature plank-panelled dados and wooden benches along three sides, with 9-panelled doors.

The courtroom has dado panelling and a raised dais at the west end with small-framed panelling and a central pediment on two Ionic pilasters. There is one 9-panelled door opening north and south. Four arch-braced roof trusses rest on artificial stone corbels.

The south magistrates room features moulded plaster cornice, dado rail and a timber fire surround. A 9-panelled door in the north wall provides access to a similar north room.

The cell block opens from the west end of the courtroom through a 9-panelled door. Walls are tiled to dado height. Four cells each have one 3-flush-panelled timber door with wire grating to the viewing window (locks intact) and one bottom-hung 4-paned iron window.

The courthouse survives intact with all rooms in their original positions and virtually no alterations. The courtroom features high-quality panelling. The inclusion of four holding cells off the courtroom is unusual for a rural court house and was not part of the original design, but was incorporated into the plan before construction began. Unusually, the cells include separate sanitary facilities. Research has shown that rural courthouses built separately from the more usual integrated police station are rare, and this represents an intact survival. The dignified facade in Edwardian Baroque style makes an important contribution to the street.