Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court

Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court, built in 1868 by David Rhind, is a castellated courthouse block. Alterations were made around 1994 to update the court facilities. The building fronts the High Street and extends to the east, incorporating an earlier prison tower and police station from 1815 to the rear.

The courthouse is two storeys high and has four bays, with a three-stage entrance tower set off-centre on the High Street frontage. It is constructed of squared granite with sandstone dressings. The doorway has narrow side lights, and above is a stepped hoodmoulded oriel window, all beneath a tower that rises through a continuous castellated parapet. Ground floor windows have hoodmoulds. A square angle turret is located on the right-hand corner, featuring slit windows on each stage. The side elevations are asymmetrical, with an entrance on the first bay of the east elevation.

A large cell block extends to the rear, including the 1815 building. This consists of two towers, one with four stages and the other with six, each with an octagonal stair turret and a three-storey block. The windows are timber sash and case with four panes of glass. The roof is grey slated, with wallhead stacks and cast iron downpipes. Iron railings and pyramidal capped gate piers are also present.

The interior, viewed in 2014, is arranged with the court and public offices on the ground floor. The main courtroom, facing east, is on the first floor and accessed via a dog-legged staircase with decorative barley twist iron balusters and a timber handrail. Much of the original 1868 plan remains. The principal courtroom contains six-panel doors and a high, coffered ceiling with moulded cornicing, flower motifs, scrolled corbels and ornate roses. Raked timber public seating and a timber judge's bench with a sounding board above are also found within. Decorative cornicing and panelled doors feature in secondary rooms, offices, and passages. Several fireplaces are present, many now boarded up. The former 1815 prison block has been converted into offices, retaining barrel vaulted cells and police areas on the second floor. A small exercise area sits on the roof, accessible from a timber stair in the custody area. A former suite of Fiscal's offices and police station, located on the ground floor to the east, is currently used as a public library with its own separate entrance to the east.