Former Police Station and Courthouse, including stable and harness room, railings and lamps

Former Police Station and Courthouse, Stable and Harness Room, Railings and Lamps

This building dates from 1913 and was designed by John Dixon Butler, surveyor to the Metropolitan Police. It is built of red brick laid in Flemish bond, with glazed brick to the basement and plinth, limestone dressings, slate roofs and brick chimneystacks.

The building is roughly U-shaped and stands on a corner plot. The principal elevation faces south-west onto Rosslyn Hill, with return wings facing north-west onto Downshire Hill and projecting into the rear courtyard. It abuts 26 Rosslyn Hill on the south-east and has been linked to it internally.

Originally, the building's different functions were separated internally, though openings have since been inserted to allow passage across the building. The ground floor of the Rosslyn Hill range was the core functional area of the police station, containing the main offices and charge room, with cells in the rear wing. The basement contains rooms originally used for maintenance of uniforms, fuel storage, and the police mess and parade rooms (now subdivided). Two sets of living quarters were provided for a married inspector and a married constable. These are located at the southern corner of the ground and first floors, each comprising three main rooms and originally accessed separately from Downshire Hill. The first floor contains the main dining room and kitchens, which have been extended above the cell wing. A large dormitory intended to sleep 30 men is on the second floor and appears to have been partially subdivided. The Downshire Hill range is largely occupied by the courthouse and related accommodation. The public entrance leads to various waiting rooms and offices on the ground floor, and the courtroom itself is on the first floor. A covered corridor links the charge room directly to the courthouse.

A detached block within the rear courtyard is understood to have originated as a stable and harness room, later converted to offices.

The principal elevation facing south-west onto Rosslyn Hill is two storeys plus attic and basement. It is symmetrical in its general form, though on the right-hand side a picturesquely grouped set of features offset the otherwise rhythmical elevation. A short flight of steps leads to the double panelled front doors, which stand within a richly moulded architrave with an open pediment supported on elongated console brackets, with a large keystone beneath the inscription 'POLICE'. Above is an oculus lined in moulded stone, and to the right, a canted bay window rises from the basement. To the left of the door, the ground and first floors have five closely-spaced windows beneath a large central pediment, with two wider window bays to the far side. Windows are generally six-over-six-pane sashes which, on the ground floor, have moulded, eared architraves. There is a wide entablature with a dentil cornice above. The central pediment has three pairs of four-over-four sashes with a keyed oculus above. To either side, projecting from the pitched roof, are dormers with paired sashes in moulded, pedimented architraves. The basement has an open light void running the length of the elevation, with iron railings supported on tapering square piers. Those piers to either side of the front door hold iron lanterns.

Elements of the principal elevation are continued on the return: the dentil cornice, stone banding, dormers and architraves, though the composition itself is less regular, with large areas of blind brickwork. On the left is a single doorway in a moulded architrave with a keystone and over-light, giving access to the two sets of lodgings for married staff. On the first floor are two narrow windows, and paired windows in the attic gable. To the left is the doorway to the courthouse, which forms the centrepiece of the Downshire Hill façade. Double doors stand within a moulded architrave with a cornice above and a label before the pulvinated frieze stating 'COURT'. The doorway has a semi-circular hood-mould with an exaggerated keystone, breaking into a nine-light mullioned and transomed window above, with leaded glazing. Left of the main entrance are two single and one tripartite windows in stone surrounds, and to the extreme left, at basement level due to the falling ground level, is the staff entrance to the court: a single panelled door in a moulded architrave with a keystone. The roofline drops above the courthouse, and the pitched roof has a large lantern lighting the first-floor courtroom. To the left of the elevation is the vehicle entrance to the rear yard. Gates are supported on piers of glazed bricks with stone bands and caps.

The courtyard-facing elevations are more utilitarian and are obscured by later 20th-century additions, including the rebuilt covered stair between the charge room and court, a brick lean-to, caged walkways and fire escape stairs. Window openings have gauged brick lintels and are varied in size, with many original sashes remaining. The series of cells in the rear wing has distinctive narrow horizontal windows; above, the first floor has been extended. Various window openings and doorways have been blocked, evident in the brickwork.

The interiors have been modified on a number of occasions over the life of the building. Although the general planning has survived, original interior fixtures and fittings have survived less well, particularly in those parts intended for police use. There is a legible difference between the interior treatment of the police-occupied parts of the building and the courthouse.

The police station is largely devoid of historic internal fixtures, though it is likely to have begun as a relatively utilitarian space, perhaps with the exception of the entrance lobby. Moulded window architraves survive throughout, as do simple internal doorway architraves. Within the areas where suspects were held—the charge room, cells and detention rooms, and matron's and surgeon's room—the angles of the internal walls are rounded. The cells retain heavy metal doors with hatches, possibly dating from the mid-20th century. The stair, which rises the height of the building, is a simple iron construction with a modern handrail and is tiled to dado height with white tiles with green borders, now painted over. The entrance lobby and CID office have been reconfigured, and the original 'association cell' divided into two single cells.

In the basement, the plan form is largely intact, notwithstanding the late 20th-century subdivision of the parade room to create additional cells. The former bicycle store and ambulance shelter, originally accessed from the rear yard, have been incorporated into the general accommodation, and there has been subdivision of a corridor and the former mess and drying room. These are utilitarian spaces without notable fixtures or decorative finishes.

The two sets of lodgings on the ground and first floor, originally accessed only from Downshire Hill, each had three principal rooms and a scullery and coal store. The short stair to the ground-floor flat has a heavy moulded timber newel, stick balusters and a moulded handrail. The flats do not contain features related to their domestic use, besides an arched niche to one side of a chimneybreast on the ground floor. Their plan forms remain legible, though the stair to the upper flat has been removed, and access routes created into the courthouse and police station. Also on the first floor are the main dining room and kitchens. This area has modern fittings, finishes and subdivisions, and has been extended over the cell wing.

The courthouse received a greater level of internal treatment and detailing, signifying its high status. The public entrance lobby and waiting rooms feature high-quality moulded plasterwork, joinery, and parquet and terrazzo floor coverings. Dentil cornices and coving survive above suspended ceilings. The stair between the lobby and public waiting room has a moulded handrail and decorative cast iron balusters. A second stair in the same style provides a private route of circulation for magistrates and staff, rising from a separate entrance further north on Downshire Hill, leading to the back of the courtroom. The public waiting area has fixed benches and is lit by the nine-light mullioned and transomed window. The courtroom itself has timber panelled walls, a deep cornice with dentils, and is open to the roof, where it is lit by a pitched lantern supported on a steel framework. The jury stand, clerk seating and public gallery are also panelled, and the dock is raised on a dais and bounded by cast iron railings.

The former stable block and harness room stand at the north-east corner of the rear courtyard, facing north-west. On the ground floor are a series of doors and windows under slightly cambered, gauged-brick lintels. The left-hand side of the elevation is obscured by a late 20th-century extension. Above, on the first floor, are two dormers with pairs of sash windows, and a third dormer to the left with an inserted sash, possibly replacing an opening to a hayloft. The building had been converted to offices by 1986 and is not believed to contain any features related to its original use.