HAVERFORDWEST’s historic courthouse has gone on sale because efforts to regenerate the town centre have made it possible, the current leaseholder has said.

The leasehold for the Shire Hall on High Street, Haverfordwest, went on sale at the end of May for £2,395,000 via the estate agents Evans-Roach.

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Haverfordwest's Shire Hall went up for sale last week

Nick Heywood of Red Dragon Developments is the current leaseholder, and said he “hoped that the building would end up with a significant community use,” in the future.

Mr Heywood added: “Having had recent interest from a couple of people and as Haverfordwest begins to show signs of modest regeneration with the new library and gallery, and other council initiatives, we felt it was time to make it generally available.”

The lease is dated for February 4, 2010, which means there are just under 990 years still left on the lease for prospective buyers.

Mr Heywood said the price had been decided as a result of the potential rent-roll, taking into account the position and importance of the building in the town.

Red Dragon bought the building’s lease with a client in mind but the recession of the late 2000s affected its plan, so it was rented out from the end of 2010 and then mothballed after tenants moved out.

In 2016, the building was one of nine properties in Haverfordwest considered in an options appraisal for a Flagship Heritage Centre.

The former archives building in the castle grounds has since been chosen for this project.

Mr Heywood said the inside of the Grade-II* building required a great deal of refurbishment when Red Dragon took on the lease.

“The main courtroom had to be extensively re-furbished in agreement with CADW, this involved a completely new roof over the existing dome, re-rendering the outside of the building with lime plaster, rather than concrete that had previously been used and repairing-refurbishing throughout,” he said.

“For the remaining historic part of the building it had to be converted from the old courtrooms to house the restaurants, offices and coffee shop, all under an agreement with CADW and PCC.”

A lift was also installed to make it accessible.

Other parts of the building which were built in the 1960s and used to house the holding cells, solicitors rooms and dock, were demolished, with new floors and windows put in place.

The Shire Hall was designed by William Owen, the architect responsible for many of Haverfordwest’s famous 19th-century buildings.

In 2004, dozens of people gathered outside the property to object to the sale of the building to the JD Wetherspoon pub chain.