Register House

Register House is a registry and court house, dating to 1736, with later alterations. Constructed of red brick in a Flemish bond, it has a stone slate roof. The building is three storeys high and arranged in a 3x3 bay layout, with a contemporary rear service wing. The original west-facing front overlooks the High Street. The ground floor features a central doorway, now partially blocked and replaced with a sash window containing glazing bars. The doorway has a painted ashlar surround with large raised quoins and a tripartite keystone. Brickwork is set back above the ground floor. The first floor has sash windows with glazing bars, featuring projecting ashlar sills and flat arches with keystones. The second floor incorporates half-size six-pane sash windows that match those on the first floor. A dentilled cornice runs along the top of the building, surmounted by a hipped roof. The left return features a round-arched staircase sash window with glazing bars, radiating at the top. The right return mirrors the west front and includes a 19th-century flat-roofed ashlar porch, added when Zetland Street was created in the mid-19th century. Two ridge stacks are present. A single-storey rear service range, later raised to two storeys, has an ashlar quoined door surround with a keystone. Register House was one of only four deeds registries established nationally under an Act of Parliament in 1735. In 1785, the Registry relocated to a new Court House designed by John Carr, which has since been demolished. Originally, the building was accessed through an elegant gateway on the High Street, which is now demolished.