Former Senior Constable's residence, police station, magistrates court and fire station

This multi-functional civic building was constructed between 1905 and 1907 to designs by Clerk of Works E Averne, working under the direction of the Borough Surveyor E A Strickland. It originally combined a fire station, magistrates' court, police station, and the Senior Constable's residence in a single complex.

The building is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with reconstituted stone dressings and a clay-tile roof. It is long and L-shaped in plan, consisting of two storeys and a basement. The principal elevation faces east onto St Leonard's Road. At the north end stands the former fire station with a pedestrian entrance and appliance bays at ground floor level, with offices above. The magistrates' court and police station occupy the centre of the building, including the main entrance, the former courtroom, and offices. The former residence of the Senior Constable is located at the southern end of the structure and continues on the return into St Mark's Place, with its own entrance. At the rear of the building there is a vehicle yard.

Principal Elevation

The principal elevation is designed in the Edwardian free style and is principally Baroque in character. The road front is divided into sections which reflect the different activities originally housed within. Most prominent at the centre is the former magistrates' court, with three bays set between projecting porch wings. North of this is the fire station, with the police station and Senior Constable's House to the southern end. At ground floor level on the road front, the elevation is characterised by quoins and banded piers, with Gibbs-type window surrounds and transomed windows. There are two elaborate two-storey porches—entrances to the fire station and magistrates' court—which have lugged architraves and Ionic capitals. A dentil cornice runs along the length of the building. The pitched roof is hidden behind a brick parapet and is enlivened by copper-roofed ventilation towers with Classical detailing. Pedimented gables surmount the porches and shaped gables delineate the principal sections of the building.

At the northern end, the fire station consists of four bays. To the south, the first two bays project forward to form an elaborate porch. It has round-headed windows set within Gibbs-type stone surrounds, alongside an oculus window above the pedestrian entrance. The original timber door has been replaced with a glass version. Set back and to the north, the remaining bays each have an original appliance door. They stand beneath a plain stone architrave inscribed with the words 'FIRE STATION' and supported on banded piers. On the first floor, the windows are paired sashes with one lower pane and two by two above. Above the dentil cornice there is a central blind oculus. The return elevation facing onto St Mary's Road is similar in character but more plain.

South of the fire station, the magistrates' court is set back between the pedimented porches and is formed of three bays which are more Jacobean in style. In the centre and set into the cornice, there is a round-headed gable which frames a carved Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, depicting a lion and a unicorn. Below there is a four-pane transom window and to either side there is a high-set Diocletian version with a round-headed centrepiece. All windows have leaded lights and the upper examples have stained glass with circle decoration and the date '1906'. Below the fenestration there are three stone plat bands.

Between the magistrates' court and the police station to the southern end, there is another elaborate porch with round-headed windows set within Gibbs-type stone surrounds. The entrance doors have been replaced with 21st-century glass screens. The police station continues south and is formed of five bays, the first three of which have transom windows in stone architraves. They are tripartite to the ground floor and intersected by three stone plat bands, while on the first floor they are paired sashes with one lower pane and two by two above. To the south end the remaining bays are surmounted by a blind stone oculus window under a shaped gable. Below there is also a stone oculus window and a former entrance to the police station, now a window.

Senior Constable's Residence

The Senior Constable's residence is asymmetrical and faces south onto St Mark's Place. It is domestic in scale and Classical in style. It is formed of six bays over two storeys with a basement. Red brick is used on the elevations and the pitched roof is clay-tiled. The openings are framed by flat-faced stone architraves and the windows are sashes with a single pane below and two by two above. The first three bays to the east end project and have a central timber entrance door with multiple glass panes to the upper section. Above the entrance door there is a decorative round-headed window which has stained glass in multiple panes with scroll decoration. There is a bay window to the east at ground floor level. The remaining bays to the west are more plain and progressively step back, terminating at the entrance to the rear yard. The rain goods across the entire building are square in section and carry an embossed 'W'.

The rear of the building is more plain and is faced in white-painted brick. The fenestration consists of two-pane sashes above moulded stone cills. Behind the magistrates' court there is a late 20th-century extension which is two-storey and constructed of red brick. It is plain and functional.

Interior

The fire station appliance bays retain their open plan but are fitted out as seating areas. The former watch office has timber panelling beneath a dado rail and is now connected to the magistrates' court by late 20th-century fire doors. The first floor is arranged as offices, one of which has a tiled fireplace with a timber surround.

The magistrates' court is now set out as a theatre but retains its tall timber panelling to both sides. The ceiling is gently curved and has moulded ribs springing from a cornice. The northern end has a control room above the seating with connecting links to a changing room housed in the late 20th-century extension to the rear.

The entrance hall to the former magistrates' court is richly decorated and Classical in design. The ground floor has grey-coloured stone panelling below a cornice. To the north side there is a round-headed broken pediment supported on paired granite columns with Ionic capitals. The pediment has a cartouche with the entwined letters 'VSV' and swag detailing to either side, above hardwood four-panelled doors surmounted by smaller pediments. Above the entrance door the arrangement is similar, but the cartouche has an image of Windsor Castle in relief. This is also the case for the south side, but with a single door below a late 20th-century marble sign, and the cartouche has the entwined letters 'JH'. There is a stone doorway to the rear of the hall, integral to the stone stairs, which also has a small pediment above, and this example is enlivened with a round-headed relieving arch and a pointed arch with foliage moulding. The central winder staircase is made of stone and has closed strings. It has a solid panelled balustrade and a broad, rounded banister. This rises and curves away from an octagonal newel post which is surmounted by a brass astrolabe. The stairs have a half-landing where there is a six-panel timber door to the former magistrates' court.

The upper walls and barrel-vaulted ceiling have timber mouldings giving the impression of panelling. To the front and rear of the hall there is a pair of leaded light casement windows bracketed by granite columns with Ionic capitals. To the sides, granite pilasters with Ionic capitals rest on stone brackets and appear to support the ceiling. To the front of the hall there is a ground floor vestibule and to the first floor an internal balcony, both of which have good quality hardwood joinery and glazed timber or solid doors with brass fittings.

The former police station has been fitted out as offices and is functional. The Senior Constable's residence has also been converted to offices but retains some good quality joinery, ceiling cornices, and two decorative fireplace surrounds. The wooden stairs are dog-leg with closed strings. They have a moulded timber handrail above spindle-type balusters.

Subsidiary Items

Along the length of the east-facing principal elevation, except in front of the appliance bays, there is a run of square-section stone gate-piers with moulded caps. They are connected by wrought-iron railings which are characterised by a central wheel design with spokes radiating out to a square frame.