Old Sheriff Court, Falkirk

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Old Sheriff Court
Former Falkirk Sheriff Court (geograph 7411807).jpg
The building in 2023
LocationHope Street, Falkirk
Coordinates 56°00′02″N3°47′18″W / 56.0006°N 3.7884°W / 56.0006; -3.7884
Built1868
Architect Thomas Brown II and James Maitland Wardrop
Architectural style(s) Scottish baronial style
Listed Building – Category B
Official nameFormer Sheriff Court including boundary walls, gatepiers and lamp stands, 1 Hope Street, Falkirk
Designated23 April 1979
Reference no.LB31200
Falkirk UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Falkirk

The Old Sheriff Court is a judicial building on Hope Street in Falkirk in Scotland. The building, which currently accommodates a firm of funeral directors, is a Category B listed building. [1]

Contents

History

Plaque on the building Falkirk Town Heritage Trail - Hope Street.jpg
Plaque on the building

The first judicial building in the town was the Falkirk Steeple which incorporated several prison cells and was completed in 1814. [2] [3] However, court hearings were held in various locations, including the Assembly Rooms at the corner of Rankine's Lane and The Pleasence, the Red Lion Inn in the High Street, and the sheriff's offices at 14 High Street. Hearings were removed to a small office behind Wilson's Buildings, which were at 105–111 High Street, in 1848. [4] In the mid-19th century, court officials decided that a dedicated courthouse was needed. The site they selected was on the corner of Hope Street and West Bridge Street. [5]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 29 June 1866. It was designed by Thomas Brown II and James Maitland Wardrop in the Scottish baronial style, built by R. & A. Berry of Edinburgh in ashlar stone at a cost of around £7,500, and was completed in October 1868. [4]

The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of four bays facing onto Hope Street. The second bay on the left, which was recessed, featured a doorway with a hood mould incorporating a carved panel on the ground floor, and a sash window with a triangular pediment and finials on the first floor. The first and third bays were fenestrated by tripartite windows with hood moulds incorporating carved panels on the ground floor, and by sash windows with cornices and carvings on the first floor, all surmounted by stepped gables. The right-hand bay, which was recessed, was fenestrated by a sash window with a hood mould incorporating a carved panel on the ground floor, and by a sash window with a round headed pediment on the first floor. There was a bartizan to the right of the third bay on the main frontage, and a four-stage circular tower on the south side. Internally, the principal rooms were offices for the sheriff's clerk and for the procurator fiscal, together with seven prison cells, on the ground floor, and a courtroom, with a hammerbeam roof, on the first floor. [1]

As the number of court cases in Falkirk grew, it became necessary to commission a modern courthouse for criminal matters, and hearings moved to the new Falkirk Sheriff Court in 1990. [6] [7] [8] The old sheriff court was subsequently used as used as the Falkirk Volunteer Centre, [9] before being converted for use as the offices of a firm of funeral directors, Thomas Cuthell & Sons, in 2007. [10] [11]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Historic Environment Scotland. "Former Sheriff Court including boundary walls, gatepiers and lamp stands, 1 Hope Street, Falkirk (Category B Listed Building) (LB31200)" . Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  2. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Falkirk Town Steeple, High Street (Category A Listed Building) (LB31178)" . Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  3. ↑ "Looking back with Ian Scott on the history of the Falkirk Steeple". The Falkirk Herald. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  4. 1 2 Meek, Alan (1991). "The Prison and Sheriff Court of Falkirk" (PDF). Falkirk Local History Society. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  5. ↑ "Ordnance Survey Six-inch 1st edition, 1843–1882" . Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  6. ↑ Glendinning, Miles (2019). History of Scottish Architecture. Edinburgh university Press. p. 582. ISBN   978-1474468503.
  7. ↑ "Falkirk Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court". Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  8. ↑ Jaques, Richard (2001). Falkirk and District An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Rutland Press. p. 46. ISBN   978-1873190081.
  9. ↑ "The Old Sheriff Court". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  10. ↑ "Thomas Cuthell & Sons". Your Funeral Choice. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  11. ↑ "Thomas Cuthell & Sons". Funeral Notices. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
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