The former police station

The former police station, dating from 1857, is a two-storey red brick building constructed in the mid-19th century to serve as a County Police Station. The symmetrical front elevation to Southampton Road features a four-bay central range with doors in the outermost bays of the ground floor, flanked by projecting wings of one window bay each. An Edwardian single-bay extension matches the original style and materials, projecting from the west. The brickwork is in Flemish bond, accentuated by gauged-brick flat arches over the windows and a projecting brick string course between the floors. Original hornless timber sash windows remain, with some retaining original glass. The front doors themselves have been replaced, although the Victorian bell push to the eastern door and an iron boot scraper survive. Decorative iron guttering is embellished with lions' heads. A plaque on the front elevation displays the date '1857' and the words 'County Police Station', though the lettering is now incised rather than painted. The rear of the building is characterised by a cat-slide slate roof with a dormer window. Rear windows are a mix of timber sashes, casements, modern replacements, and original metal-fixed cell windows high in the walls. A detached single-storey garage, originally stabling, sits at the rear of the site.

Internally, the building has been altered by the insertion of modern partitions, impacting the original layout. Two staircases were originally present—one within each front door’s entryway. The western staircase has been removed, while the eastern one has been rebuilt. An Edwardian staircase is found within the western extension. Original four-panelled doors and some timber wall cupboards remain throughout much of the building. Three fireplaces survive; a downstairs fireplace in the easternmost main room, a mantelshelf in a second ground floor room, and a mid-19th century surround upstairs. The rear of the building is particularly well-preserved, containing a kitchen with intact pantry cupboards featuring timber doors with ventilation holes and shelving. The cell block also remains largely original, displaying three cells and a WC accessed via a stone-flag-paved corridor. This corridor preserves a timber height-measuring chart affixed to the wall. An original external door at the corridor's western end has since been blocked. Original heavy timber cell doors feature observation apertures and food distribution slots; one cell retains a brass bell push inside.