Magistrates Court And Courthouse

The building is a magistrates' court and courthouse, dating from 1862-65, originally built as a police station. It occupies a large, asymmetrical block on the north-west side of Market Square in Stony Stratford. The main three-storey facade faces south-west, featuring three windows. The construction is predominantly English bond red brickwork with pointed stone headers and sills to the pointed sash windows. Stone kneelers incorporating blind tracery are present, along with stone coping to the verges and a plate tracery design to the two right-hand windows on the first floor. The slate roof is laid in alternating grey and purple bands, and the chimney stacks are brick with stone verging, with a prominent stack between the two right-hand first-floor windows. A black brick plinth runs along the base.

The entrance, located in the return to the south-east, features a pointed stone head and decorative chamfered panels to the double doors. Above the entrance is a wheel window with plate tracery set within a vesca. The south elevation includes a later extension with two further entrances, one numbered '20', also with decorative chamfered panels. A recessed section covers three bays in the centre. An overlapped brick cornice is present. The building has seven windows on the first floor and nine on the ground floor.

The roofline is punctuated by four brick chimneys, mirroring the design of the main block. The building forms a group with Nos. 36 to 40 (even) Church Street, Stratford House, Mill Lane and all the listed buildings in the Market Square.