Gatepiers, Boundary Wall and Railings, Cromarty Court House Museum, Church Street, Cromarty

The Cromarty Court House Museum, including its prison, was built between 1772 and 1782, with significant repairs and improvements carried out between 1845 and 1847 by Thomas Brown II, including the addition of a cell block to the rear. It is a two-storey, five-bay building in the shape of a "T," originally a courthouse and now a museum, featuring a central, three-stage clock tower and an octagonal cupola. The exterior is primarily constructed of coursed rubble with a rendered finish, accented by rusticated quoins at ground floor level, ashlar margins, gable string courses, and a cupola constructed from coursed red sandstone. The ground floor windows are square, while the first-floor windows are round-arched with multi-pane sashes. The roof is slated.

The clock tower incorporates round arched recesses on the ground floor, with an entrance door on the east side. The third stage features a blind lunette, and the tower is topped by a simple stone parapet and a pinnacle on each corner. The octagonal cupola displays a clock face on its north elevation and louvred bull’s eyes on three sides, capped with a domed copper roof and a metal weathervane.

A later, mid-19th century, L-plan cell block with gabled roofs and a slate roof extends to the rear, containing three prison cells with small, high-level windows. An arcaded exercise gallery, featuring a flat stone roof and iron bars in the arcades, overlooks the yard. The cell block and exercise yard are built of coursed red rubble with ashlar dressings.

The interior, observed in 2015, retains many mid-19th century fittings on the first-floor courtroom, including a raised bench (without seating), flanked by cast iron stoves, a timber dock, jury and witness boxes, and benches. The plaster walls feature some timber panelling up to dado level, complemented by a simple moulded plaster ceiling. A mid-19th century chimney was inserted into the adjoining former clerk’s room. A vaulted documents store is located in the roof space of the prison block, accessible from the corridor adjacent to the clerk’s room.

The ground floor contains a kitchen, three cells, and an exercise gallery. Two of the cells had single, low wooden beds, which are now replicated. The third, larger cell includes a fireplace and served as both a debtors’ cell and a dayroom for prisoners. All three cells are fitted with studded, metal-plated doors.

Outside, a pair of square ashlar gatepiers support a curved wrought iron lap bracket along Church Street. Iron railings are mounted on a coped stone wall.