Former Police Station and Jail

Former Police Station and Jail

This complex comprises several interconnected buildings arranged around a concrete-surfaced yard, entered from the road through post-war iron mesh gates. The site is bounded on its west side by a twelve-foot wall with an 1980s iron security fence; a similar fence also delimits the north side. The former court house adjoins the complex to the east.

The Main Block

The principal structure is a three-storey cement-rendered block with a canted or three-sided plan, originally built as a prison block and later remodelled for use as a police station. The building encloses a yard on its south side. It features a shallow pitched and hipped slated roof with cast-iron rainwater gutters and downpipes, and a stepped rendered cornice with raised rendered continuous quoins.

The canted block comprises two four-bay wings flanking a single-bay centre containing the main entrance. The south elevation displays a full complement of windows with raised rendered surrounds, plinth blocks, and projecting sloping sills. First and second floor windows are timber sliding-sashes with 2/2 panes, with some modifications. Ground floor windows are multi-paned metal windows of 8 panes over 16 panes, with half forming a casement; those east of the central entrance have been blocked in the post-war period. The main entrance is centrally placed, leading into the staircase hall, and has a moulded cement architrave with modern double doors and a window light above.

The two-bay side elevations each have a centrally placed top floor window. On the west side this is a multi-paned narrow timber sliding-sash of 4 panes over 6; on the east side it is a 2/2 timber sliding-sash with a modern picture window opening below. The rear elevation, situated at a higher level than the front, has no ground floor windows. Ten first and second floor windows survive, all timber-framed sliding-sashes of 2/2 except for a modern replacement on the west side, and none have raised rendered surrounds. Several small single-storey extensions project from the rear: a small gabled block on the east side, a lean-to on the west side, and a low shallow flat-roofed extension in the centre.

Guard House Extension

A two-storey flat-roofed extension attached to the east side of the main block, occupying two bays and serving as the entrance to the police station. It features prominent overhanging concrete eaves with a steel railing above. The side elevation facing the yard has two large now-blocked openings on the first floor and one small opening of 1960s appearance on the ground floor. The two-bay front has a door opening flanked by a window on the ground floor and a picture-window opening above.

The Constable's Residence

A four-bay two-storey gabled block facing the street, set behind a retaining wall, with a two-storey three-bay lean-to extension facing the yard to the rear. The ground floor is constructed of ashlar basalt blocks with dressed stone quoins; the first floor is rendered in pebble-dash. The roof is concrete tiled with overhanging eaves and verge, and has cast-iron gutters and downpipes. No chimneys are present, although two existed formerly.

A door flanked by a small timber window of 1/1 panes is located in the side elevation of the lean-to rear extension. All windows on the front elevation are timber sliding-sashes with 1/1 panes.

West and South Boundaries

The yard's west side is delimited by a gable-ended single-storey block dating from the 1960s.