County Hall Main Entrance Block

County Hall Main Entrance Block is an early 19th century building made of grey gault brick, which was formerly the courthouse and is now known as the Shire Hall. It was designed by W McIntosh Brooks in 1836 in the Tudor style, reflecting its original purpose with a strong architectural presence. The building's frontage is approximately 150 feet long and features a central entrance block flanked by twin castellated towers, castellated side wings, and two slightly projecting end pavilions.

The central entrance block includes decorative sham machicolations and a stone mullioned and transomed window, with casements that have glazing bars set in splayed stone reveals. The windows in the towers are topped with stone hood moulds. The main entrance has heavy double doors, each consisting of eight panels, with a substantial portcullis grille above, all framed by a four-centred moulded brick arch. The side wings are mostly unfenestrated, except for four heavily barred windows located low in the east wing.

The end pavilions feature four-centred arched windows with splayed stone reveals and hood moulds on the ground floor, while the first floor has stone mullioned and transomed windows with splayed stone reveals. A moulded stone string course runs across the wings and end pavilions, with a central carved stone coat of arms in each wing. The front of the building rises above a deep battered stone plinth, and a shield above the entrance doors displays the date 1837.