Royal Courts of Justice | |
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General information | |
Status | Completed |
Type | Court |
Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
Address | Strand City of Westminster WC2A 2LL |
Town or city | London |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 51°30′49″N0°06′48″W / 51.51361°N 0.11333°W |
Current tenants | HM Courts & Tribunals Service |
Groundbreaking | 1873 |
Opened | 1882 |
Cost | < £1 million |
Technical details | |
Material | Portland stone ashlar and red bricks with granite, marble and red sandstone dressings and slate and lead roofing |
Floor count | Five |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | George Edmund Street |
Main contractor | Messrs Bull & Sons |
Other information | |
Public transit access | Temple |
Website | |
Official website | |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Official name | Royal Courts of Justice: The Law Courts, Screen Walls, Gates, Railings and Lamps |
Designated | 5 February 1970 |
Reference no. | 1264258 |
The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by George Edmund Street, who died before it was completed, it is a large grey stone edifice in the Victorian Gothic Revival style built in the 1870s and opened by Queen Victoria in 1882. It is one of the largest courts in Europe. It is a Grade I listed building. [1]
It is located on the Strand within the City of Westminster, near the boundary with the City of London (Temple Bar). It is surrounded by the four Inns of Court, St Clement Danes church, the Australian High Commission, King's College London and the London School of Economics. The nearest London Underground stations are Chancery Lane and Temple. The Central Criminal Court, widely known as the Old Bailey after its street, is about 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) to the east—a Crown Court centre with no direct connection with the Royal Courts of Justice.
Courts of Justice Building Act 1865 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to supply Means towards defraying the Expenses of providing Courts of Justice and the various Offices belonging thereto; and for other Purposes. |
Citation | 28 & 29 Vict. c. 48 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 19 June 1865 |
Other legislation | |
Amended by | Statute Law Revision Act 1875 |
Courts of Justice Concentration (Site) Act 1865 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to enable the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works and Public Buildings to acquire a Site for the Erection and Concentration of Courts of Justice, and of the various Offices belonging to the same. |
Citation | 28 & 29 Vict. c. 49 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 19 June 1865 |
For centuries these courts were located in Westminster Hall; however, in the 19th century, justices decided the courts needed a purpose-built structure. Much of the preparatory legal work was completed by Edwin Wilkins Field including promotion of the Courts of Justice Building Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 48) and the Courts of Justice Concentration (Site) Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 49). A statue of Field stands in the building. [2] Parliament paid £1,453,000 for the 6-acre (24,000 m2) site upon which 450 houses had to be demolished. [2]
The search for a design for the Law Courts was by way of a competition, a then-common approach to selecting a design and an architect. The competition ran from 1866 to 1867 and the twelve architects competing for the contract each submitted designs for the site. [3] In 1868 it was finally decided that George Edmund Street was the winner. [3] Building was started in 1873 by Messrs Bull & Sons of Southampton. Its masons led a serious strike at an early stage which threatened to extend to the other trades and caused a temporary stoppage of the works. In consequence, foreign workmen were brought in – mostly Germans. This aroused bitter hostility on the part of the men on strike, and the newcomers had to be housed and fed within the building. However, these disputes were eventually settled and the building took eight years to complete; it was officially opened by Queen Victoria on 4 December 1882. [2] [4] [5]
Street died before the building was opened, overcome by the work. [6] The building was paid for by cash accumulated in court from the estates of the intestate to the sum of £700,000. Oak work and fittings in the court cost a further £70,000 and with decoration and furnishing the total cost for the building came to under £1 million. [2]
The building was extended to the designs of Sir Henry Tanner to create the West Green building completed in 1912. [2] The Queen's Building followed in 1968 and the Thomas More Courts were completed in January 1990. [2]
The building was used as a "Nightingale Court" for criminal trials during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. [7]
The design involves a symmetrical main frontage of facing The Strand; the central section, which is stepped back, features an arched doorway leading to the Great Hall; it has a five-part window in a carved surround on the first floor and a gable containing a rose window above. [1] At the top of the gable is a sculpture of Jesus with a flèche behind. [1] There are also statues of Moses, Solomon and Alfred the Great, the four statues symbolising the pillars of English legal tradition. [8] [9] There are towers containing lancet windows on either side of the central section with side wings beyond. [1] At the eastern end of the Strand frontage is a tall clock tower topped by a pyramidal roof, finial and flagpole; [1] it contains a clock and five bells (weighing a total of 8¼ tons) by Gillett, Bland & Co.. [10]
Internally, courts are arranged off the Great Hall which runs north–south; there is a courtyard to the east with offices for courtroom staff arranged round the courtyard. [1] The Great Hall contains a bust of Queen Victoria by the sculptor, Alfred Gilbert. [11]
Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner has described the building as "an object lesson in free composition, with none of the symmetry of the classics, yet not undisciplined where symmetry is abandoned". [12] David Brownlee has claimed that it was influenced by the reformist political movement and the High Victorian architectural movement and has described it as a "regular mongrel affair" [13] while Turnor described it as the "last great secular building of the Gothic Revival". [14]
The Government Art Collection contains a painting by Henry Tanworth Wells depicting Queen Victoria opening the building in 1882. [15]
The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative chambers which occupy the building. The palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom; "Westminster" has become a metonym for the UK Parliament and the British Government, and the Westminster system of government commemorates the name of the palace. The Elizabeth Tower of the palace, nicknamed Big Ben, is a landmark of London and the United Kingdom in general. The palace has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
Sir Charles BarryFRS RA was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens. He is known for his major contribution to the use of Italianate architecture in Britain, especially the use of the Palazzo as basis for the design of country houses, city mansions and public buildings. He also developed the Italian Renaissance garden style for the many gardens he designed around country houses.
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Alfred Waterhouse was an English architect, particularly associated with Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known for his designs for Manchester Town Hall and the Natural History Museum in London. He designed other town halls, the Manchester Assize buildings—bombed in World War II—and the adjacent Strangeways Prison. He also designed several hospitals, the most architecturally interesting being the Royal Infirmary Liverpool and University College Hospital London. He was particularly active in designing buildings for universities, including both Oxford and Cambridge but also what became Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds universities. He designed many country houses, the most important being Eaton Hall in Cheshire. He designed several bank buildings and offices for insurance companies, most notably the Prudential Assurance Company. Although not a major church designer he produced several notable churches and chapels.
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Temple Bar was the principal ceremonial entrance to the City of London from the City of Westminster. In the Middle Ages, London expanded city jurisdiction beyond its walls to gates, called 'bars', which were erected across thoroughfares. To the west of the City of London, the bar was located adjacent to the area known as the Temple. Temple Bar was situated on the historic royal ceremonial route from the Tower of London to the Palace of Westminster, the two chief residences of the medieval English monarchs, and from the Palace of Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral. The road east of the bar within the city was Fleet Street, while the road to the west, in Westminster, was The Strand.
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