Blofield Court House

Details

BLOFIELD

494/0/10014 YARMOUTH ROAD 16-MAY-06 28 BLOFIELD COURT HOUSE

II Court house. 1905 by T.H.B. Hislop, the County Surveyor. Contractor was Thomas Gill of Norwich.
Red brick laid in Flemish bond with artificial stone dressings; slate roofs. Edwardian Baroque style.
PLAN: rectangular plan consisting of an east-west section behind an entrance block. Holding cells at rear linked by a narrow passageway.
EXTERIOR: north entrance block is single-storeyed and consists of a centrepiece flanked by 2 window bays right and left. Central entrance bay of stone over brick: 2 entactic Roman Doric engaged columns and pilasters support block entablatures and flat cornice with modillions. Arched opening with rustication and keystone, and stone banding to the recess created. Either side is one narrow transomed casement within stone architraves. Brick pediment with moulded stone coping gabled back to main roof. Side bays each with 2 6/9 top-hung casements within stone architraves and standing on stone sill bands. Hipped roof.
Main east-west range contains courtroom. East return with 3 stepped top-hung casements with glazing bars under stone lintels. Twin ventilation loops in gable head.
West return with a 9-panelled door (upper 3 panels glazed) under an overlight with glazing bars. Partly external stack off-set to the south of the gable apex.
South elevation partly obscured by the cell block to the east, but has 4 windows: eastern pair are 3-light casements with transoms under stone lintels, western pair are 6/2 horned sashes serving the south robing room. Timber louvered cupola on ridge of roof.
Single-storey cell block with a lean-to wash room to the east and a similar toilet to the west. Windows with iron grilles.
INTERIOR: longitudinal corridor running east-west separates courtroom to the south from waiting rooms to the north. Tiled dado. 2 fixed windows in north wall with 5 x 5 panes transmit light from the 2 waiting rooms. Both waiting rooms with plank-panelled dados and wooden benches to 3 sides. 9-panelled doors.
Courtroom with dado panelling. Raised dais at west end with small-framed panelling and a central pediment on 2 Ionic pilasters. One 9-panelled door north and south. 4 arch-braced roof trusses on artificial stone corbels.
South magistrates room with moulded plaster cornice, dado rail and a timber fire surround. 9-panelled door in north wall leads to similar north room.
Cell block opens off the west end of the courtroom through a 9-panelled door. Walls tiled to dado height. 4 cells, each with one 3-flush-panelled timber door with wire grating to the viewing window (locks intact) and one bottom-hung 4-paned iron window.
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: This courthouse is intact with all the rooms in their original positions and there have been virtually no alterations. The courtroom has high-quality panelling, and off it are 4 holding cells, which is unusual for a rural court house and not originally part of the design. They were however incorporated in the plan before construction began and unusually include separate sanitary facilities. Recent English Heritage research has shown that rural courthouses built separately from the more usual integral police station are rare and this is an intact survival. The dignified facade in Edwardian Baroque style is an important element in the street.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

496175

Legacy System:

LBS

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