The Court House

The Court House is a County Court house built in 1830, serving as the venue for Quarter Sessions. It is constructed of dressed stone with ashlar dressings and features a slate roof with a single chimney stack. The building has raised quoins, an ashlar plinth, a continuous cill band, and moulded eaves. The south front has five bays and is a single storey.

The off-centre doorway is framed by an ashlar doorcase supported by two Doric columns, which hold up an entablature and pediment. The entrance includes an eight-panel door with a glazing bar overlight. To the left of the entrance is a single round-headed glazing bar sash, while to the right are three round-headed glazing bar sashes, all with Gothick upper glazing and plain ashlar surrounds featuring impost blocks and keystones. Flanking the main structure are small sections of wall, three metres high, topped with ashlar coping and matching round-headed doorways, which also have plain ashlar surrounds, impost blocks, keystones, and reinforced doors.

Inside, there is a cross passage leading from the main entrance. To the west are the Old Jury Room and the Justice's Retiring Room. To the east is the main Court Room, which features a central table at a lower level surrounded by plain panelled partitions. The Clerk's Chair is positioned above and behind the Judge's Seat, which has an ornate backboard. The Grand Jury Box is located to the north, the Petty Jury Box to the south, and the Defendants' Boxes and Witness Box to the east, with the Bailiff's Box above and behind the central Prisoner's box, which has steps leading down to the cells. The former Old Gallery now serves as the Clerk's Office. The Court Room is adorned with moulded plaster coving and dado plank panelling, and above the Justice's Chair hangs a Royal Coat-of-Arms. This building likely stands on the site of the medieval Liberty Court.