Under Sheriff'S Office

The Under-Sheriff's Office is a former house, now used as offices, located on a corner site in South Petherton. It dates from the late 17th century and is constructed of Ham stone ashlar with a coated Welsh slate roof. The building features high stepped coped gables that suggest it may have originally had a thatched roof, along with brick and intermediate chimney stacks.

The structure has a 'T'-plan and stands two storeys tall with five bays. It includes a plinth, an eaves course, and a continuous string course over the openings at both levels, which steps up over the doorway. The windows are three-light ovolo-mould mullioned types set in wave-mould recesses, featuring rectangular leaded panes with iron-framed opening lights. The doorway, located between the second and third bays, is cambared-arched and moulded to match the windows, set in a rectangular recess with incised spandrils, and has a 20th-century boarded door accessed by two steps.

There is a lean-to extension against the south-west gable that matches the main building, featuring a two-light window with a label and external ferramenta. A 20th-century extension at the rear is made of reconstructed stone that roughly matches the original. The interior has not been fully inspected, but it was originally designed with a through passage plan. It includes a partly modified 18th-century staircase, fielded panel doors, and shutters on the windows. The interior has been significantly altered to comply with fire regulations. The law firm using the building was established around 1749, and it became the Under-Sheriff's Office in 1947.