East Northamptonshire District Council Stores, Cleansing Department And Document Store

The East Northamptonshire District Council Stores, Cleansing Department and Document Store is a workhouse built around 1836 by the architect M.J. Donthorne. The building features squared coursed limestone with ashlar facades and dressings, topped with slate roofs. Originally, it consisted of four three-sided courtyards and is two storeys high. The main front has 13 bays, with the centre and end bays projecting forward to form cross wings that create the sides of two courtyards. The centre cross wing has a gabled end featuring a prominent seven-light stone-mullion window on the first floor, with arch-headed lights and transoms, and a pair of similar two-light windows at ground level. The corners are chamfered and corbelled, and the ashlar gable parapet is topped with an octagonal finial. The return wall includes stone-mullion windows and a lateral stack with octagonal flues. Each side of the main front has five-window ranges of two-light stone-mullion windows with transoms at ground level and gablets above on the first floor. The return walls of the flanking cross wings also have similar three-window ranges. The right cross wing has a 20th-century lean-to extension. The rear elevations of the main range each have five-window ranges, while a central rear wing is attached at right angles with a six-window range. Various casement windows on the first floor are set under scored stone lintels with keyblocks, and there are several 20th-century openings at ground level. The intersection of the main cross wings is octagonal and features two doorways on the rear elevation with four-centred arch-heads, providing access to a through-passage between the courtyards. Inside, there is a central staircase with a stick balustrade. The master's office at the front of the central cross wing includes a 19th-century fireplace and panelled window reveals. The first-floor hall of the main cross wing has arch-headed stone surrounds for the windows. The third side of the two rear courtyards was demolished around 1900. W.J. Donthorne was also the architect for No. 78 (The Old Rectory) on High Street.