Hamilton Sheriff Court, Almada Street and Beckford Street

Hamilton Sheriff Court

A substantial neoclassical court house built in 1834 and subsequently extended and remodelled. The building comprises three phases of construction: the original 1834 structure; remodelling and extension by John Murray in 1886; and a further extension to Beckford Street by Alex Cullen, James Lochhead and William Brown in 1900.

The building is a 2-storey symmetrical composition executed in polished ashlar with channelled base course and band course between ground and first floors. Plain entablature with moulded cornice and low parapet runs across all elevations. Giant Order Doric pilasters articulate the bays throughout.

The south elevation on Almada Street presents nine bays with an advanced three-bay centre featuring a tetrastyle Ionic portico (1834), advanced single end bays (1886), and two-bay joining sections (1834). Ground floor windows are predominantly corniced with panelled aprons, whilst first floor windows have moulded surrounds. The west elevation on Beckford Street, completed in 1886, comprises a nine-bay centre with three-bay flanking wings linked by recessed sections. This elevation features a triangular pedimented doorpiece. The north elevation has a consoled and corniced door piece. Windows throughout are predominantly plate glass in timber sash and case frames. The roofs are finished in grey slates, with cast iron rainwater goods to the east (rear) elevation.

The interior is arranged around richly decorated entrance halls introduced in the 1886 phase. The Beckford Street entrance hall features a tiled floor, lugged and pedimented door architraves, timber panelling to dado height, and a decorative plaster ceiling. An Imperial stone staircase with timber balustrade rises from this space, its square newel posts topped with ball finials and underside panelled. Armorial stained glass windows light the corner landings. A coombed ceiling with fine plasterwork spans the stairwell. Above the half landing stands a flat arched niche with plaster segmental arched and pilastered surround, flanked by round arched niches in pedimented frames. Doors to Courtroom 2 are set within a round arch niche with decorative plasterwork including fluted pilasters. Courtroom 2, facing west, retains a highly decorative coombed plaster ceiling, though fixtures and fittings were predominantly replaced during a 1990s refurbishment.

The Almada Street entrance hall has a tiled floor, lugged and pedimented door architraves, and a pair of stone stairs with decorative cast iron balusters. A barrel-vaulted ceiling with compartmented plasterwork and modillioned cornice crowns this space. Courtroom 1 retains 1886 boarded and panelled timber fixtures and fittings to the well of court, including a witness box with curved sounding board. The dock has stairs beneath leading to cells. This courtroom features a coombed ceiling with moulded cornice. Public seating has been replaced, but most rooms in the 1834 building retain decorative cornices, some with fire marble surrounds and panelled timber window shutters.

The 1900 north wing stairwell contains a six-light stained glass window incorporating a crest, stone stair with decorative cast iron handrail, and ceiling with modillioned cornice.

The building is surrounded by low boundary walls topped with iron railings. A pair of gates stands to the right of the Almada Street elevation.