Court House

This is a former gaol, now a court house, built between 1788 and 1791, with alterations in 1844. It was designed by W. Blackburn for Sir Onesiphorus Paul. The building is constructed of squared red Forest stone with ashlar dressings, and has a hipped slate roof with wide eaves supported by timber corbels. It has an 'I'-plan with a short cross wing in the centre; the left half contains cells, and the right is a courtroom. It is two storeys high, with a third storey to the rear cross wing. The central wing has three sash windows on each floor; smaller slit windows are present on the returns to cover the faces of the main wings.

The wing to the left projects slightly at ground floor and features a lead flat with a five-bay semi-circular blind arcade. The arcade’s plain impost block continues as the sill to the semi-circular windows, which have cast-iron fanlights with grilles outside. The main entrance is set back to the right, within a flat-headed opening recessed within a semi-circular heading and featuring a grille. The door is six-panelled, with a planked door to the left. On the first floor are six small, round-headed iron windows; the centre of the sill has oval indentations. The right wing has seven tall, semi-circular headed windows at first floor. Below, the ground floor projects over four bays adjoining the centre, with a panelled door at each end and a semi-circular fanlight above. Semi-circular windows feature in the centre of two bays, and two bays project further with a semi-circular windowed blind arcade. A porch on the right return wing provides public access to the court.

The interior features a central hall with panelled doors, some retaining original ironmongery. A swing grille leads to a corridor on the left, which has a stone-paved floor and a plastered groined vault. Blind arches line each side, with plain impost blocks. Some cell doors are panelled, while others are cross-boarded. Two cells retain a wooden bed base and headrest, dating from 1848, along with an iron alarm. There are two dog-leg stone staircases at the end with grilles, and the first-floor corridor has a plastered barrel vault, with a louvred iron ventilator in the end wall. A wing to the right was gutted to form a Petty Session Court in 1874; original docks for the accused and backless benches in the public area survive. The Court is all on the ground floor, with a slightly raised section for the magistrates.

This gaol was one of four built in Gloucestershire in the late 18th century. Ground-floor cells were enlarged in 1844, a chapel was moved to the first floor, and a second floor was added to the rear for an infirmary. It ceased to be a prison and became a police station with cells in 1856, with a court formed later. The building is the best-preserved of similar structures. Stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops are present.