The shire hall, which is currently used as a dental surgery and business centre, is a Grade II listed building.

[1] The assize hearings for the County of Westmorland were held in the then-county town of Appleby, at the Castle until 1670,[2] and then at the Moot Hall until 1778.

[3][4] However, in the early 1770s, the justices decided to commission a dedicated courthouse and the local lord of the manor, Sir James Lowther, agreed to make land available on Bongate (now known as The Sands).

[2] The new building was designed by Lowther's agent, Daniel Benn, in the vernacular style, built in rubble masonry with a stucco finish, and completed in 1778.

There was a short flight of steps, running the full width of the frontage, in front of the building.