Former Kingussie Sheriff Court, 36 High Street, Kingussie

The former Kingussie Sheriff Court, built in 1865 and altered in 2015-16, is a 2-story, symmetrical building designed by Matthews and Laurie in a classical style. It has a rectangular footprint and is constructed of coursed and squared sandstone with tooled ashlar dressings, including long and short quoins to the corners and the central bay. A pronounced eaves band and cornice run along the top of the building.

The south elevation features a slightly projecting, pedimented central bay. The entrance has a pair of timber panelled doors beneath a decorative cornice. Moulded architraves frame both the doorway and the window openings. A band course connects the panelled window aprons on the first floor. Timber sash windows with a 4-pane pattern are found throughout.

The chimney stacks are corniced and feature later 19th-century square cans, with flared caps and barley twist detailing at the corners. The roof is covered with piended platform slates.

To the east of the main elevation stands a corniced stone wing wall with a pedestrian gate. Southeast of the courthouse is a roofless stone outbuilding, originally a toilet block with three stalls, linked to tall, coped rubble boundary walls that enclose the courthouse on its east, south and west sides.

The building retains a good decorative interior scheme and a significant amount of its original 1865 layout. The ground floor was used for public offices, while the first floor housed the main courtroom. Inside, there’s an entrance lobby with a dog-leg staircase featuring a curved, decorative cast iron balustrade and timber handrail. Basket arches are present in the ground floor corridors, and a cast iron pot-bellied stove is located to the south. Access from the corridor leads to three timber-lined cells, each with small, high-level windows and panelled doors fitted with a hatch, spy hole and lock. The former courtroom has a coombed ceiling with three decorative vents and a timber bench. Secondary rooms feature simple moulded cornicing, panelled doors, and timber floors, with some retaining fireplaces and timber surrounds.