Listed Building record MDR11387 - Magistrate's Court, Derwent Street, Derby

Magistrate's Court, Derwent Street, Derby, built c1932. 'Council House and Riverside Gardens. In 1931 Herbert Aslin, the City Architect, was asked to design the Council House and the space around it to provide Derby with its first public riverside space. The Civic buildings (Council House and Magistrate's Court), structures, parapet walls and street furniture which front the river were designed and landscaped together as a set piece, with the construction of Exeter Bridge. These include some very typical 1930s art deco designs, details and shapes. The Magistrate's Court (1932-4) by CH Aslin on Derwent Street was listed grade II in January 2000. Very few 20th century buildings are listed and this reflects national recognition of the importance of the building and its setting.' (1) 'The former Magistrates' Courts were completed in 1934 and incorporate a police station to the north. This Neo-Classical building with its bravura angled entrance and best façade to the river, was just one element in a projected re-build of the entire riverside area. Other completed elements include the bus station, council house, open market and riverside gardens.' (2) From the National heritage List for England: 'SK 3536 SW DERBY DERWENT STREET (North side) 893/1/10070 Magistrates Court GV II Includes: Magistrates Court, FULL STREET Central police station and magistrates' courts, with attached boundary walls. 1932-34, by CH Aslin, Borough Architect. Red brick with ashlar dressings and hipped Westmorland slate roofs. Georgian Revival style. Plinth, coped parapet with urns. Windows are original steel glazing bar casements. 2 and 3 storeys. Hollow square plan with corner entrance, and central 2-storey range comprising cells and courts set diagonally within. Recessed corner entrance bay, 3 windows, has 3 round arched doorways with enrichment, and original bronze sliding gates. Above, 3 windows, the centre with scroll pediment, the sides with cornices, all with wrought iron balcony railings. Above again, 3 square windows under a shallow pediment with a cartouche. Outside, a pair of bronze standard lamps on plinths linked to the boundary wall. Returns to the entrance block have each 3 windows on each floor, with keystone to central first floor window. Symmetrical front to Derwent Street, 9 windows, has a central ashlar doorcase with glazed double doors and overlight, approached by steps. The door and the window above are flanked by smaller windows. Outside, boundary wall with dice and square piers topped with flat urns. River frontage, 17 windows arranged 7/3/7, has projecting centre under a stepped parapet. 3 first floor French windows have ashlar surrounds with segmental heads, and continuous balcony with wrought iron balustrade. Outside, an ashlar balustrade on the river's brink. Acute angled corner feature between Derwent Street and River frontages has a concave corner with a 3-light window to the ground floor, and above, a French window with ashlar surround, scrolled pediment and wrought iron balcony railing, under a stepped parapet. In each return, 2 windows and above, a relief panel. Full Street front, 10 windows arranged 3/3/4, is similar to Derwent Street front. Outside, similar boundary wall with some urns missing. Rear elevation, originally 17 windows arranged 6/5/6, has a central flat roofed single-storey projection. This has a central recessed double door and overlight, flanked by 2 windows. Above, projecting centre with 5 windows, and a keystone cartouche in the parapet of the slightly projecting centre bay. To left, a symmetrical range with central doorway and flanking lights. To right, a similar frontage altered by a mid-C20 bridge corridor on the first floor. INTERIOR: Ground floor entrance hall has dentillated cornice. Swept double stair has elaborate bronze balustrades and shell ceiling and skylight to stairwell. Main Stairwell and first floor waiting area have polished stone panelling and moulded cornices. Open-well rear stair, concrete and terrazzo, has steel balustrade and curved wooden handrail. Court 1 has dentillated cornices to cross beam ceiling, and mainly original fittings. Court 2, formerly the Assize court, has patterned ceiling borders and mainly original fittings. Former gallery and jury box screened off to form court 4, c.1992, with similar decoration. Adjoining jury room has dado, chair rail and cross beam ceiling with skylight. Retiring room has wood panelling, polished stone fireplace, and enriched border to panelled ceiling with original pendant lamps. Judges' room has similar panelling and cross beam ceiling with skylight. Offices and corridors plain, with overlights to doors, and splayed skylight to first floor corner office. Court 3, on ground floor, adapted from an office, c.1950. Police station has staircase similar to courts' rear stair, and plain corridors and offices. Folding wooden screen between ground floor corridor and former parade room. Cell block largely original, with white glazed brick lining throughout. This building is an important element of a major municipal redevelopment scheme, carried out between 1932 and 1949. Listing NGR: SK3540836416.' (3)