The structure, which used to be the main courthouse for the south of Parts of Holland, is a Grade II listed building.

The site they selected in the Sheep Market was adjacent to a new prison which had been erected in 1825 to replace an earlier House of Correction in Broad Street which had dated from 1619.

[5] The new sessions house was designed by Charles Kirk from Sleaford, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £6,000 and was officially opened on 30 June 1843.

The bays were separated by buttresses surmounted by statues of lions and, at roof level, there was a crenelated parapet which was decorated by a panel bearing the Royal coat of arms.

[7] In 2016, food production specialists, Oliver and Dorota Sneath, acquired the building and initiated works to convert the sessions house into a mix of residential accommodation and leisure space.