[1] The original custodial facility for the Soke of Peterborough was the Abbot's Prison in Long Causeway, which had fallen into decay.

[6][7] The complex was designed by William Donthorne in the Norman style, built in stone at a cost of £8,000 and was completed in 1842.

[1][8] The design of the entrance block involved a symmetrical main frontage of seven bays facing onto Thorpe Road.

The wings of three bays each, which were single storey, were fenestrated by round-headed windows with colonettes, architraves and hood moulds.

After the bar and restaurant closed, the site was marketed for sale in 2013,[13] and, since then, the sessions house has remained unused.