Aylesbury Crown Court
Location38 Market Square, Aylesbury
Coordinates51°48′57″N 0°48′43″W / 51.8157°N 0.8120°W / 51.8157; -0.8120
Built1740
ArchitectThomas Harris
Architectural style(s)Palladian style
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated7 April 1952
Reference no.1117935
Aylesbury Crown Court is located in Buckinghamshire
Aylesbury Crown Court
Location of Aylesbury Crown Court in Buckinghamshire

Aylesbury Crown Court, also known as Old County Hall, is a former judicial facility and municipal building in Market Square, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, completed in 1740. The building served as the meeting place of Buckinghamshire County Council from 1889 until 2012, and was used as a court until 2018. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

History

The trial of John Tawell in 1845

Construction work on the building commenced in 1722.[1] It was designed by local architect Thomas Harris in the Palladian style following a design competition supervised by John Vanbrugh but, because of funding difficulties, it was only completed in 1740.[1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto the Market Square; the central section of three bays, which slightly projected forward, featured a doorway on the ground floor with a wrought iron grill in the tympanum flanked by round-headed windows in a similar style; there was a round-headed window flanked by Doric order pilasters and pedimented windows on the first floor and a large pediment at roof level topped with three urns.[1] Internally, the principal room was the courtroom.[1]

The murderer, John Tawell, who was arrested after police sent a telegraph message to Paddington Station, was tried in the courtroom and then executed in the Market Square in 1845.[2] An extension to the rear to accommodate the judge's lodgings was built to the designs of Edward Buckton Lamb and completed in 1850, while an extension to the south west, this time to accommodate the county constabulary headquarters, was built to the designs of David Brandon in a similar style to the main building and completed in 1865.[1]

The building continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of Buckinghamshire County Council.[3] It was the scene of the trial of the suffragette, Elizabeth Anne Bell, charged with carrying a loaded pistol outside the walls of HM Prison Holloway in 1913.[4][5]

The courtroom was used for a court scene in the Miss Marple film Murder Most Foul which was released in September 1964.[6]

The courtroom was badly damaged in a fire on 9 February 1970 and subsequently restored.[1] The building was used for exterior court scenes in the television series Judge John Deed in the early 2000s.[7]

The county council moved most of its staff to a new building called County Offices (later known as Old County Offices) on Walton Street in 1929, adjoining the back of the County Hall. This was further supplemented in 1966 by the New County Offices, also known as New County Hall, on the opposite side of Walton Street. Both Walton Street buildings were primarily office space, and council meetings continued to be held in Old County Hall until 2012, when they moved to Aylesbury Vale District Council's new council chamber (called the Oculus) at The Gateway on Gatehouse Road. An attempt to bring council meetings back to Old County Hall in 2016 was abandoned after one meeting due to concerns about the building's limited disabled access and difficulties of broadcasting meetings.[8]

After the Crown Court moved to the magistrates' courts building further south along Walton Street in March 2018,[9] Buckinghamshire County Council indicated an intention to develop the old building as a hotel.[10][11] However, the proposal, which would involve stripping the interior of the building, including the courthouse, met strong opposition from local people and a petition against the proposal was launched in October 2018.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Historic England. "The County Hall, including the former town hall, the former county constabulary headquarters and the judge's lodgings, Aylesbury (1117935)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  2. ↑ "The Building of the old County Hall and Courts" (PDF). Aylesbury Town Council. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Local Government Act 1888". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  4. ↑ Cartwright, Colin (2013). Burning to Get the Vote: The Women's Suffrage Movement in Central Buckinghamshire. University of Buckingham Press. ISBN 978-1908684097.
  5. ↑ "Suffragettes under surveillance: Unseen police mugshots of the militant women who won the vote". The Telegraph. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Murder Most Foul". Reel Streets. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Staff writer (8 July 2004). "Town centre becomes film set for day". Bucks Herald. Johnston Press. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2007.
  8. ↑ Buckinghamshire County Council meetings: 26 April 2012 = last regular meeting of county council at "The Council Chamber, Market Square, Aylesbury", 24 May 2012 = first meeting of county council at "The Oculus, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury", and 28 April 2016 = final meeting of county council at "The Council Chamber, Crown Court Building, Market Square, Aylesbury", at which decided to revert back to The Gateway for subsequent meetings.
  9. ↑ "Historic Aylesbury Crown Court closes its doors for last time". Buckinghamshire County Council. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Great Train Robbery court in Aylesbury closes". BBC. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "Historic Aylesbury Crown Court building closes ahead of plans to turn it into 'stunning' new hotel". Bucks Free Press. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  12. ↑ "Uproar over hotel plans for Aylesbury's Courthouse". Aylesbury News. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
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