However, it was then extended by the addition of an extra floor to accommodate magistrates' court hearings, to a design by Frederick Webster Ordish in the neoclassical style, in brick with a stucco finish, in 1855.

It featured a prominent stone archway supporting a double-flight staircase providing access to a doorway on the first floor in the piano nobile-style.

[7] A statue of the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland, sculpted by Edward Davis, was unveiled outside the building by Sir Frederick Gustavus Fowke, 1st Baronet on 28 April 1852.

[12] Then, in August 1914, at the start of the First World War, the building was the venue for a lively debate involving the future Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, who spoke on the importance of democracy and overcoming militarism.

[13] After a long period when the building was vacant and deteriorating, it was acquired by Wetherspoons and, after a major refurbishment, it re-opened as a public house in July 2000.