 The old Sessions House | |
  Location in Preston | |
| Location | Stanley Street, Preston, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 53°45′41″N2°41′18″W / 53.7614°N 2.6883°W |
| Type | Museum |
| Website | Museum of Lancashire |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | The old Sessions House |
| Designated | 27 September 1979 |
| Reference no. | 1219103 |
The Museum of Lancashire is a museum with several historic collections in Preston in Lancashire, England. The museum, which is based in the old Sessions House, is a Grade II listed building. [1]
Construction of the courthouse, which was commissioned to accommodate meetings of the nisi prius court and the quarter sessions, began in 1825. It was designed by Thomas Rickman in the Neo-Classical style.. Baines' 1825 History and Directory of Lancashire comments that, 'The prison is on a very large scale, but the Court-house, which is inconveniently situated in the centre of the building, is not sufficiently commodious, and at the general session for the county, held by adjournment on 9 September 1824, the sum of ten thousand pounds was voted by magistrates, for the erection of a new court-house and records office, which are to be placed outside the walls of the present gaol'. [2] Hewitson, in his History of Preston states that the building was erected in 1829 and refers to Mr Rickman as the architect. He goes on to add that a new dome was added in 1849 and in 1870, due to the dangerous state of the dome it was replaced by a ceiling light. [3] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Stanley Street; the central section featured a porch with Doric order columns. [1]
The collections include: Lancashire Through Time (archeological collections etc.), Lancashire at Work (local industries etc.), Lancashire at Play (the Hylda Baker costume collection and Les Dawson, George Formby and Gracie Fields material), Lancashire Goes to War (an atmospheric First World War trench), Lancashire Law and Order (court house material, Lancashire home front and the 14th/20th King's Hussars. [4]
In November 2015 it was announced that Lancashire County Council would withdraw funding from five of its museums: Fleetwood Museum, Helmshore Mills Textile Museum, Judges' Lodgings, Museum of Lancashire and Queen Street Mill because of what the leader of the council described as "the financial challenges facing the county council as we deal with relentless cuts to central government funding combined with rising demand for our services". [5] [6] They were initially to close at the end of March 2016 but that month were reprieved until September 2016. [7] [8] The Museum closed on 30 September 2016, along with the other four Lancashire museums mentioned above, but remained open for pre-booked school groups. As of 3 June 2017 Lancashire County Council's website stated that "Negotiations are underway with a potential new operator. We will keep you updated on progress.", [9] but by 16 August 2017 that statement had been removed and the website simply stated "Museum of Lancashire is closed except for pre-booked school visits. Schools are still welcome to book all learning sessions." [10] In July 2019 following approval of an ongoing annual budget of £155,000 to maintain the facility, the leader of Lancashire County Council, Keith Iddon, stated "The 'ultimate ambition' for the Museum of Lancashire in Preston is for it to reopen". [11]
In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in England 1889, the headquarters of the new councils were usually established in the county town of each county; however, the concept of a county town pre-dates these councils.
Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west.
Lancaster is a cathedral city in Lancashire, England, and the main cultural hub, economic and commercial centre of City of Lancaster district. The city is on the River Lune directly inland from Morecambe Bay. Lancaster is the county town although Lancashire County Council has been based at County Hall in Preston since its formation in 1889.
Preston is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding district obtained city status in 2002, becoming England's 50th city in the 50th year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. Preston has a population of 114,300, the City of Preston district 132,000 and the Preston Built-up Area 313,322. The Preston Travel To Work Area, in 2011, had a population of 420,661, compared with 354,000 in the previous census. The south bank of the Ribble is part of the Preston urban area, although it forms the South Ribble borough that is administratively separate.
Poulton-le-Fylde, commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,115.
The County Sessions House is a former courthouse in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It stands at the top of William Brown Street. It is adjacent to the Walker Art Gallery, the Steble Fountain and Wellington's Column. It now provides office and storage space for the gallery. The Session House is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
Bamber Bridge is a large village in Lancashire, England, 3 miles (5 km) south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". People who live in Bamber Bridge like to be known as Briggers.
Barton is a linear village and civil parish in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. The parish had a population of 1,150, of whom 552 were male and 598 were female, according to the 2011 census.
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool. The council is based in County Hall, Preston, and consists of 84 councillors.
Butterworth was a township occupying the southeastern part of the parish of Rochdale, in the hundred of Salford, Lancashire, England. It encompassed 12.1 square miles (31 km2) of land in the South Pennines which spanned the settlements of Belfield, Bleaked-gate-cum-Roughbank, Butterworth Hall, Clegg, Haughs, Hollingworth, Kitcliffe, Lowhouse, Milnrow, Newhey, Ogden, Rakewood, Smithy Bridge, Tunshill and Wildhouse. It extended to the borders of Crompton to the south, and to the highest points of Bleakedgate Moor and Clegg Moor, up to the ridge of Blackstone Edge, to the east, where its boundary was the old county boundary between Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Helmshore Mills are two mills built on the River Ogden in Helmshore, Lancashire. Higher Mill was built in 1796 for William Turner, and Whitaker's Mill was built in the 1820s by the Turner family. In their early life they alternated between working wool and cotton. By 1920 they were working shoddy as condensor mule mills; and equipment has been preserved and is still used. The mills closed in 1967 and they were taken over by the Higher Mills Trust, whose trustees included historian and author Chris Aspin and politician Dr Rhodes Boyson, who maintained it as a museum. The mills are said to the most original and best-preserved examples of both cotton spinning and woollen fulling left in the country that are still operational.
Rufford New Hall is a former country house that belonged to the Heskeths who were lords of the manor of Rufford, Lancashire, England. It replaced Rufford Old Hall as their residence in 1760. From 1920 to 1987 it was used as a hospital and has subsequently been restored and converted for residential use. It was designated a Grade II listed building in 1986.
In countries whose armies are organised on a regimental basis, such as the army of the United Kingdom, a regimental museum is a military museum dedicated to the history of a specific army regiment.
Queen Street Mill is a former weaving mill in Harle Syke, a suburb to the north-east of Burnley, Lancashire, that is a Grade I listed building. It now operates as a museum and cafe. Currently open for public tours between April and November. Over winter the café is opened on Wednesdays. It is also viewable with private bookings.
Fleetwood Museum is a local history and maritime museum in the English seaside town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. The museum was originally the town's Customs House and, completed in 1836, was one of the first buildings constructed in Fleetwood. Like much of the town it was designed by architect Decimus Burton. The building became the local town hall and is now a maritime museum. It has been designated a Grade II listed building by Historic England.
The Judges' Lodgings, formerly a town house and now a museum, is located between Church Street and Castle Hill, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The building is the oldest existing town house in Lancaster, and was also the first house in Lancaster to have shutters. It was used by judges when they attended the sessions of the Assize Court.
Lancaster City Museum is a museum in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It is housed in the former Lancaster Town Hall building in Market Square.
County Hall is a municipal building in Fishergate, Preston, Lancashire, England. It is the headquarters of Lancashire County Council.
Preston Town Hall is a municipal building in Lancaster Road in Preston, Lancashire, England. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Preston City Council, is a Grade II listed building.
William Atherton, of Greenbank and Pendleton Hall, was a Preston Guild merchant and landowner. He was twice elected as Mayor of Preston; once in 1732, and again in 1738. A silk mercer by trade, he became a successful Lancashire guild merchant, woollen draper, and was an influential figure in Preston's business community, which was focused on textile manufacturing and commerce.
