Wick Sheriff Court

David Rhind, 1862-66. 2 storey and attic, 3-bay, roughly rectangular plan Italianate court house. The large, flat-roofed late 20th century extension to southeast is not considered of special interest in listing terms at time of review. Tooled ashlar with polished ashlar dressings. Round arched central door set in paired pilastered doorpiece, flanked by pilastered and round arched flanking windows. Channelled pilasters to corners. Band course between ground and first floor. Bipartite round arched windows at first floor with balustrade, colonnettes and rosettes in centre spandrels. Dentilled and modillioned cornice with lion head masks. Blind arcaded parapet with tall end piers supporting ball finials between 2 aediculed dormers flanking a pilastered centre tower, with one window and mansard roof and cresting. Slate roof.

The interior, seen in 2014, is arranged with the court and public offices on ground floor and a south facing principal courtroom on the first floor accessed from a dog-leg cantilever stone stair with decorative barley sugar iron balusters and timber handrail. The stair hall is lit by a lantern roof light set in a coffered ceiling. The principal court has a tripartite cupola lightset in a elaborate coffered ceiling with moulded and decorative cornicing, flower motifs, scrolled corbels and ornate roses. It has public timber pew seating and timber panelled sheriff's bench with coat of arms above. Secondary rooms, offices and passages include decorative cornicing, roses and panelled doors, and a number of fireplaces (many now boarded up) with marble surrounds.