The Assembly Rooms And Curtis Museum And Inwood Court

The Assembly Rooms, Curtis Museum, and Inwood Court comprise three detached buildings dating from 1880, designed by C.E. Barry, with later alterations in the late 20th century. Constructed of red brick with yellow and moulded brick dressings, they have clay plain tile roofs with gabled and hipped ends, overhanging eaves, and exposed rafter ends.

The buildings form a square, open to High Street on the northwest side. The Cottage Hospital, now Inwood Court, occupies the southeast corner; the Assembly Rooms are on the southwest side, and the Mechanics Institute, now the Curtis Museum, is on the northeast side.

The Assembly Rooms have a two-story, 3:4 bay front. A large, full-height three-light window with a polychrome brick depressed two-centred arch and moulded brick detailing is prominent on the left. Projecting towers feature moulded brick modillion cornices and hipped pavilion roofs with squat spires. A late 19th-century porch is situated in the center angle, and a two-light depressed two-centred arch window is on the right. The southeast side features a late 20th-century extension. The northwest end, facing High Street, has a projecting gabled two-story bay with similar fenestration, all featuring sash windows without glazing bars.

The Mechanics Institute (Curtis Museum) has a similar end elevation to High Street, where ground-floor windows have been converted into a doorway and porch added. Its southwest front has seven bays, with similar fenestration to the Assembly Rooms. However, the first floor incorporates larger tripartite windows within small gables with braced bargeboards and a small two-light window at the center. A doorway with a tiled canopy on brackets is centered.

The Cottage Hospital (Inwood Court) has a symmetrical two-bay front with a central projecting gable containing a three-bay arcade porch with pointed arches and a tripartite Gothic window above. A fleche rises over the ridge at the center, and an axial brick stack is to the right. Yellow brick bands delineate the facade, and late 20th-century extensions are present to the southwest and rear (southeast).

The Assembly Rooms retain an original ceiling with bracketed main beams and moulded axial beams, although a suspended ceiling was inserted in the 20th century. The interior of the former Cottage Hospital has been converted into sheltered housing. The Mechanics Institute’s interior was remodelled for use as a museum, but the central staircase remains.