The Naseby Courthouse, a simply detailed timber building designed in 1876, is set in the former gold mining town of Naseby. It sits adjacent to the Post Office, and marks the land reserved for government services in the once bustling town.

The Naseby Courthouse served as both a Wardens and a Magistrates Court for around ninety years, and is therefore a tangible link with the town's goldfield's past. As a Court it was one of the public faces of government in this rural area. While the first court in Naseby was set up in the 1860s, this later structure, with its formal composition, demonstrates the historic importance of the law in the goldfields, where wardens administered mining law and were concerned with the registration and enforcement of miners' rights. They also had the power to adjudicate on disputes over resources such as water races, claim jumping, and forgeries.

The Naseby Courthouse sits alongside other historic buildings in Naseby. The former Naseby Courthouse is a single-storey weatherboard structure with a corrugated iron roof, built on a domestic scale. The Courthouse is plainly detailed, with the arched windows on the principle elevation the main decorative element. The floor plan drawings show the courtroom in the centre of the building, with public seating in front of the windows nearest the street. The dais was at the rear of the courtroom, with two offices behind this, with the dais itself given natural lighting from a skylight above. In the 1980s the former courthouse was converted for use as a family home, or holiday home.

The Naseby Courthouse has architectural and historical significance. In its simple design and detailing is a representative example of government architecture associated with the development of administrative infrastructure in gold fields Otago. It sits with other courthouses, for example those at Alexandra, Clyde and Cromwell as local examples of architecture associated with the justice system. The former Naseby Courthouse has historic significance as the centre for the administration and justice for this rural community. The building served as both Wardens and Magistrates Court for around ninety years, and is therefore a tangible link with the town's goldfield's past. As a court it was one of the public faces of government in this rural area.