Former police station and petty sessional court, now known as Tetbury Council Offices and Police Museum

Former Police Station and Petty Sessional Court

This building, now known as Tetbury Council Offices and Police Museum, is constructed of coursed, rock-faced Cotswold limestone with ashlar dressings and a Cotswold stone slate roof with stone chimneys.

The building follows a T-shaped plan. The left-hand range housed the police station with further police accommodation on the upper floors. The right-hand cross-wing contained the guard's room and three cells at ground floor level, with a double-height magistrate's court above.

The street frontage to the west is gabled and two and a half storeys high, arranged as two bays with a single-storey wall to the right. The left-hand bay features a three-light cross window and a single-light window at ground floor, along with a four-centred arched doorway with hollowed reveals and a wrought-iron gate. The doorway spandrels are dated '1884' and bear the raised stone Gothic lettering 'magistrates' above, with decorative foliate carving to either side. The first floor has a three-light and a two-light cross window, while the attic floor contains a pair of two-light mullion windows within gabled dormers. Moulded string courses run along the top of both the ground and first-floor levels.

The right-hand bay projects forwards and features a five-light mullion and transom bay window at ground floor with a Cotswold stone banded roof. The moulded plat band above carries raised stone Gothic lettering reading 'Police Station and Petty Sessional Court' with decorative foliate carving to either end. The first floor is lit by a tall three-light stepped window with recessed spandrels, which illuminates the former courtroom. A single-light louvered window sits at the apex of the gabled roof. To the left of this bay is a coped, single-storey wall with a four-centred arched doorway bearing the raised stone Gothic lettering 'Public Entry' above, with decorative foliate carving to either end, and a single-light louvered window in a chamfered recess to the right.

The south elevation comprises a four-centred arched doorway inscribed with the raised stone Gothic lettering 'Guard Room' above, with decorative foliate carving to either end, and includes an external staircase providing public access to the courtroom. A tall lateral stone stack stands at the left-hand end.

The rear elevation is arranged in four bays. The left-hand bay features three cell windows at ground floor and a stepped three-light window to the first floor with a louvered window above at the apex of the gabled roof. The right-hand two-bay block contains an arched doorway with keystone and mullion windows of various sizes. A single-storey brick extension extends to the far right-hand bay. The north elevation abuts the neighbouring building and has a gable-end stack.

Internally, the plan form survives well, retaining many historic fixtures and fittings including moulded architraves and skirting boards, geometric floor tiles to the hall and porch, and panelled doors. Three cells remain intact. The courtroom retains the magistrate's raised bench with recessed panels, a fireplace to the side wall, and a doorway to the magistrate's retiring room, though the fittings in that room have been removed. The raised dock and witness stand occupy opposite sides of the courtroom. Vertical wall panelling to dado height survives, though the public gallery has been removed. The arch-braced roof is supported on stone corbels.