Police Station and Former Magistrates' Court

Summary

Police station and former magistrates' court house built in 1887 in Queen Anne Revival style. Modern extensions to the Police Station and interior features of the station (excepting the prisoner's stair) are not of special interest.

Reasons for Designation

Goole police station and former magistrates' court house, built in 1887 in Queen Anne Revival style, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: good use of Queen Anne Revival style detailing to produce a varied, impressive building when viewed from the street;
* Materials and workmanship: beyond the obvious terracotta dressings, such features as the mitred hips to the roof and the delicately ornamented finials demonstrate good quality workmanship and materials;
* Interior: although the police station has been re-ordered internally, the court house portion of the building is well preserved retaining a wide range of features such as stained glass, plasterwork and joinery, including courtroom furniture.

History

Goole Police Station and Magistrates Court was built in 1887 and was officially opened on 9th March 1888. It was designed by the County Surveyor for the West Riding (Mr Edwards), and built by Jackson Brothers of Goole. A newspaper article of the time details the building's construction and identifies the various suppliers of materials. Sometime between 1966 and 1987 the building was extended to the rear (west) as well as to the north, the latter extension replacing the former Police House, these extensions being for the police station and are not of special interest. At the end of 2011, the Magistrate's Court (the upper floor of the original building) closed.

Details

Police Station and Magistrates Court, 1888 by the West Riding County Surveyor in Queen Anne Revival style.

MATERIALS: red brick and terracotta with stone sills; slate roof laid to diminishing courses with mitred hips and lead ridges with ornate metal finials.

PLAN: two parallel ranges, each of two storeys. The police station occupies most of the ground floor, accessed via a central entrance with the cells taking up most of the original rear range. The upper floor is occupied by the former court accessed via stair halls at either end of the front range, that to the south being the public entrance, that to the north the Magistrates' entrance. The upper floor has the main courtroom occupying the full rear range (thus above the cells) with the front range providing circulation spaces, the magistrates' retiring room and other auxiliary rooms.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ("the Act") it is declared that the flat roofed extensions which lie to the north as well as to the south and east of the rear range are not of special architectural or historic interest.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrical of 14 bays with a stone topped plinth course, and moulded cornice storey and eaves bands, both being in terracotta. The southern three bays break slightly forward and rise to a Dutch gable featuring a central round window and terracotta decoration including paired Yorkshire roses. The next bay has the public entrance to the court: this is a single doorway set in a doorcase with a frieze including the embossed sign "Court Entrance", topped by a scrolled pediment, all in red terracotta. The next bay is blind to both floors. Bays six and seven breaks slightly forward at first floor level, being topped by a shaped gable featuring the 1887 date stone with a sunburst in the semicircular pediment above. Bay eight has the entrance to the police station which is similarly detailed to the court entrance except that it is signed "Police Office" and also retains a blue police lantern hung from a decorative bracket. Bays 11-13 are detailed in the same way as the southern-most three bays except the Dutch gable lacks the Yorkshire roses. The northern-most bay has the Magistrates' entrance, again with signage and pedimented doorcase in terracotta. To its side there is a round window retaining its grid-iron pattern joinery.

The windows are generally segmentally arched with fluted and corniced keystones made from terracotta. Sills are stone. Most of the window joinery has been replaced in uPVC approximating the original sashes with six pane upper sashes above undivided lower sashes.

The roof retains tall, slightly ornamented brick chimney stacks retaining chimney pots with decorative bands. The ends of the ridge to the front range are finished with decorative finials featuring sunflowers. The ridge of the rear range retains the base of a square ventilator which has decorative leadwork, although the original copular has been removed. Finials to the rear range also survive, but are simpler in design.

INTERIOR: the police station has been extensively remodelled internally, although the narrow staircase from the cells to the dock in the court remain. Thus, Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that apart from this staircase, the interior features of the police station are not of special architectural or historic interest.

The court side of the building has undergone far less alteration. The stair halls and circulation spaces retain decorative relief tiling to dado height as well as to doorways and archways. The public stairs has wrought iron balustrades. The Magistrates' stair is a timber open-well staircase, the top landing being lit by two stained glass windows, with a third lighting a washroom. The court room has ornate plasterwork to the ceiling and cornice, windows with stained glass and three full height portraits of local Victorian dignitaries. It also retains its full suite of oak court room furniture.

SUBSIDIARY ITEMS: the street frontage retains a stone coped brick boundary wall (originally with iron railings now lost) with tall gate piers with ornamented stone caps topped with ball finials.

Sources

Other
Allan Brodie, Gary Winter and Stephen Porter, The Law Court 1800-2000. Developments in form and function., 2000/1,
Article in Goole Times newspaper (March 1888),
Early photograph of the police station held by East Riding Archive,

End of official list entry

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