Description

TQ 1096 SE & TQ 1196 SW LADY'S CLOSE

9/10000 Watford County
Court House

- II

Former County Court house. Circa 1858. Red brick facades in Flemish bond
and dressings of blue brick and Portland stone; side and rear
elevations stock brick. Roofs concealed by parapets. Red brick
stacks. Plan: Front range contains entrances, offices and main
stairs, with courtroom behind at centre and judge's chamber and
court clerk's room at back. Cells now in side entrance block to
south facing King Close. Classical style. Exterior: 2 storeys.
Symmetrical 1:2:1:2:1 bay west front to Lady's Close, centre and
end bays break forward. Stone modillion cornice and blocking
course and moulded stone band and plinth moulding. Ground floor
round arch windows and doorways with blue brick dressings, stone
voussoirs and imposts, the doorways in centre and end bays with
panelled pilasters and carved capitals and semi-circular
fanlights; panelled doors on right, the other doors blocked; sash
windows with margin panes on ground floor. First floor 12-pane
sashes in moulded brick architraves with small keystones and
stone cills, centre in moulded stone eared architrave with
panelled apron. Entrance block to King Close; 1 storey 3 bays,
central doorway similar to those at front, flanked by large round
arch windows with 2 stone arch lights with central colonette and
large keystones rising into brick dentilled stone cornice above
with blocking course and large Royal Arms at centre. Interior:
Courtroom has walls with large blind arcade, panelled doors with
moulded architraves and lantern concealed by C20 suspended
ceiling. Open-well main staircase with stick balusters and
mahogany handrail. Secondary stairs with wreathed handrail.
Jurors' room at front on first floor with console brackets
supporting ceiling beams.

Listing NGR: TQ1100496140

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26394172

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)