The Old Sessions House
THE OLD SESSIONS HOUSE, CASTLE LANE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1280077
- Date first listed:
- 30-Jan-1981
- List Entry Name:
- The Old Sessions House
- Statutory Address:
- THE OLD SESSIONS HOUSE, CASTLE LANE
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-03-08
- Reference:
- IOE01/11858/26
- Rights:
- © Mr Ben White. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1280077
- Date first listed:
- 30-Jan-1981
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 03-May-1994
- List Entry Name:
- The Old Sessions House
- Statutory Address 1:
- THE OLD SESSIONS HOUSE, CASTLE LANE
- Statutory Address 2:
- THE OLD SESSIONS HOUSE, MARKET STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- THE OLD SESSIONS HOUSE, CASTLE LANE
- Statutory Address:
- THE OLD SESSIONS HOUSE, MARKET STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Torbay (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SX 91649 64268
Details
TORQUAY
SX9164 CASTLE LANE 885-1/14/64 (North side) 30/01/81 The Old Sessions House (Formerly Listed as: CASTLE LANE The Old Police Station)
GV II
Sessions House with police quarters and cells, now used as shops. 1873-1876 to the designs of Harbottle, contractor WA Goss (Ellis). Local grey limestone rubble with a crazed finish with fine joints; Bathstone and limestone ashlar dressings; slate roofs, hipped and gabled with terracotta ridge tiles with pierced cresting; stacks with stone shafts, corbelled cornices and stone caps. Original rainwater goods with fleur-de-lis and trefoil brackets. Eclectic Tudor style. PLAN: Rectangular on plan overall; series of blocks built round a central stable yard, later roofed over and converted to fire station. EXTERIOR: 3 storeys. Asymmetrical 4-bay front, the 3 right-hand bays with gables to the front. Two 2-centred chamfered arched doorways on front, one to the right preserving blind tracery in the overlight; second bay doorway altered for shopfront. 2-light ground-floor windows with central column. 3-light first-floor windows with stone architraves, the 2 centre ones in a shallow oriel with a crenellated parapet. Second-floor windows paired lancets with drip moulds. The left-hand in a shallow gabled oriel on brackets. The other elevations are in a similar style, preserving most of the original windows and doors. INTERIOR: Previous List description notes former court room with carved stone corbels to arch-braced tie-beam roof; seating removed. Cells with vaulted ceilings still intact, notorious because John Lee, "the man they could not hang" was kept there before his trial. (Ellis AC: An Historical Survey of Torquay, 2nd edition: 1930-: P.320).
Listing NGR: SX9164964268
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 390534
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Ellis, A, A Historical Survey of Torquay, (1930), 320
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 24-Jun-2026 at 12:56:22.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.