B Block
B BLOCK, CASTLE SQUARE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1245520
- Date first listed:
- 26-Feb-1985
- List Entry Name:
- B Block
- Statutory Address:
- B BLOCK, CASTLE SQUARE
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1245520
- Date first listed:
- 26-Feb-1985
- List Entry Name:
- B Block
- Statutory Address 1:
- B BLOCK, CASTLE SQUARE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- B BLOCK, CASTLE SQUARE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Cheshire West and Chester (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Chester Castle
- National Grid Reference:
- SJ 40446 65762
Details
SJ 4065 NW CHESTER CASTLE CASTLE SQUARE
4/606 B Block
GV I
Armoury now Officers' Mess. 1804. By Thomas Harrison of Chester. Cuyper sandstone ashlar from the Manley quarries and Bunter sandstone ashlar with slate roofs and lead flashings. Two storeys. Facade facing Castle Square: 9 bays with high projecting plinth supporting monolithic ½-columns of Greek Doric form between bays and at the ends. These support a projecting plain entablature with parapet above resting on slightly projecting plinth and divided by projecting piers. Between the floors and set between the ½-columns is a series of plain panels with moulded surrounds forming a sort of decorated band. Central ground floor double doorway with doors of 3 panels each with rectangular overlight. Moulded surround and pedimental overdoor supported on fluted consoles which terminate in roundels. Ground floor sash windows to either side of 3 x 4 panes (as are all the ground floor windows of the block) here with aedicular surrounds of compressed entablature supported by fluted consoles. First floor sash windows of 3 x 2 panes. Arch way adjoining front at left and joining with lateral colonnade of Assize Courts Block (q.v.), of rusticated stone with segmental arch, dentilled cornice and central panel to parapet with moulded surround. Left hand side: 3 bays. Slightly projecting high plinth; panel between floors and entablature as at front. Central double ground floor doors with rectangular fanlight above and blank windows to either side. Central sash window to first floor of 3 x 3 panes with blank windows to either side. Right hand side of 3 bays with plinth, panel and entablature as at left. Blank central window with sash windows to either side of 3 x 4 panes. First floor central window 3 x 2 sash panes with blank windows to either side. The front and side elevations were paid for by the county, the rear by the government. Of major importance as an element in the composition formed of the Assize Court Block, Propylaea and A and B Blocks.
Sources: Frank Simpson - "Chester Castle AD 907-1925". Journal of the Architectural, Archaeological and His- toric Society, Chester and North Wales. New Series Vol.XXVI Part II.
Nikolaus Pevsner and - The Buildings of England : Cheshire. Edward Hubbard
J Mordaunt Crook - "The Architecture of Thomas Harrison". Country Life, 22 April 1971.
Moira A R Ockrim - "Thomas Harrison and the Rebuilding of Chester Castle: A History and Reassessment". Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society. Vol.66, 1983.
Listing NGR: SJ4050365806
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 452905
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Hubbard, E, The Buildings of England: Cheshire, (1971)
Journal of the Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society Chester and NWA in The Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society , Vol. 26, ()
Journal of the Chester Archeaological Society in Journal of the Chester Archeaological Society, Vol. 66, (1983)
Country Life in 22 April, (1971)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 08-Jun-2026 at 19:34:21.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.