ARCHITECT/ENGINEER/DESIGNER: Not known ARCHITECT/ENGINEER/DESIGNER: The building may have been designed in the office of the Coromandel District Engineer, Alexander Aitken, who records forwarding plans for the building to the Goldfields Secretary in Auckland at the end of November 1872. This was six weeks after the Secretary was reported to have given the instruction that plans be prepared. The contract was supervised by Aitken. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: The building has a gable front, with substantial identical wings on either side. This front is classically detailed. Corner pilasters support an entablature and a pediment embellished by dentils. A medallion in the centre bears the 1873 construction date. There are two double hung sash windows, with hood mouldings on the gable front. This central portion of the building houses the courtroom. Each wing has a simply supported verandah and double hung sash windows. The west wing has a single metal ventilator duct on the ridge, and an attic window in the gable end. A brick chimney protrudes from the ridge in the centre of each wing. Successive lean-to additions clutter the rear of the building. Inside, the lofty space of the courtroom has a middle cruk ceiling. The wall has horizontal wooden cladding. The dado, with its vertical tongue-and-groove cladding, is a later addition. Star patterns cut in the ceiling act as ventilators. A simple prosecution stand contrasts with the balustrade ornamentation of the magistrate's bench. Although the remaining interior layout has been changed over the years, much of the original interior cladding and original ceiling remains. A fireplace surround in the St John's Ambulance wing is intact. MODIFICATIONS: 1896 - Post Office accommodation in west wing enlarged. 1897 - Lean-to added for telephones and batteries, west wing. 1899 - Strong room and safe added. 1945 - Concrete lavatory built at end of courtroom. Date Unknown - Gable window of east end filled in and interior walls removed.