[2] The original venue for judicial hearings in Gloucester was the Booth Hall in Westgate Street which dated from the mid-16th century.

[4] The building was designed by Sir Robert Smirke in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and opened in August 1816.

[5][6][7] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage in the form of a polygon of nine equal sides facing onto Bearland.

The central bay featured a portico, which was projected forward, contained a round headed doorway with a fanlight and was surmounted by a parapet; it was flanked by single-storey porters' offices on either side.

[2] Internally, the principal rooms were two full-height semi-circular courtrooms separated by a main corridor which was accessed through the portico.