Stornoway Sheriff Court

Last updated

Stornoway Sheriff Court
Court House, Stornoway,1.jpg
The building in 2018
LocationLewis Street, Stornoway
Coordinates 58°12′35″N6°23′03″W / 58.2098°N 6.3841°W / 58.2098; -6.3841
Built1843
Architect Thomas Brown II
Architectural style(s) Tudor Revival style
Listed Building – Category B
Official nameStornoway Sheriff Court and Former Jail, including boundary walls, archway and railings, Lewis Street, Stornoway
Designated27 November 1989
Reference no.LB41710
Outer Hebrides UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Outer Hebrides

Stornoway Sheriff Court is a judicial building on Lewis Street in Stornoway in Scotland. The building, which continues to be used as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building. [1]

Contents

History

In the early 1840s, civic officials decided to commission a prison block for the area. The site they selected was on the east side of Lewis Street. [2] The new building was designed by Thomas Brown II in the Tudor Revival style, built in ashlar stone, and was completed in 1843. It contained a series of prison cells with high horizontal windows. The complex was extended forward, with a new courthouse added at the front, to a design by Andrew Maitland in 1870. [1]

The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Lewis Street. The first two bays, which were projected forward, were fenestrated by bipartite mullioned on both floors and gabled, with lancet windows in the gables, and chimney stacks at the apex of the gables. The third bay, which was slightly projected forward, featured a segmental headed doorway with a hood mould on the ground floor, a bipartite mullioned window on the first floor, and a small pediment with a finial above. The last two bays were fenestrated with sash windows on both floors, and gabled, with a chimney stack at the apex of left-hand gable, and a bellcote at the apex of the right-hand gable. Internally, the principal rooms were the offices, with vaulted ceilings, on the ground floor, and the main courtroom on the first floor. [1]

In April 1891, the courthouse was the venue for the trial of a group of crofters who had sought to occupy the land at Orinsay that their ancestors had farmed before the clearances in 1843. A total of 15 of the crofters were found guilty and imprisoned for trespass. The principal landowner, William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, eventually allowed the land to be broken up into small holdings in the early 1920s. [3] [4] [5]

In February 1919, the building was the venue for the public inquiry into the loss of the steam yacht, HMY Iolaire, which had been wrecked in a storm at the mouth of Stornoway harbour on New Year's Day 1919. The disaster killed more than 200 people, including many of the young men of the isles of Lewis and Harris. [6] [7] [8] The jury found that the officer in charge did not exercise sufficient prudence in approaching the harbour, and that the boat failed to slow down. [9]

The building continues to serve as the venue for sheriff court hearings in the area, [10] although, due to staffing issues with the escort services, hearings involving juries were moved to the mainland in July 2023. [11] [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

HMY <i>Iolaire</i> British armed yacht wrecked in 1919

HMY Iolaire was an iron-hulled steam yacht that was launched in Scotland in 1881 as Iolanthe. She was renamed Mione in 1898; Iolanthe in 1900; and Amalthæa in 1907. Between 1881 and 1915 a succession of industrialists and aristocrats had owned the yacht. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1915 as HMY Amalthaea, and renamed HMY Iolaire in 1918. She was wrecked in a storm at the mouth of Stornoway harbour on New Year's Day 1919. The disaster killed more than 200 people, including many of the young men of the isles of Lewis and Harris. UK law now protects her wreck as a war grave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenock Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Greenock, Scotland

Greenock Sheriff Court is a judicial building on Nelson Street in Greenock in Scotland. The structure, which continues to operate as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tain Tolbooth</span> Municipal building in Tain, Scotland

Tain Tolbooth is a municipal building in the High Street, Tain, Highland, Scotland. The structure, which is used as a courthouse, is a Category A listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elgin Sheriff Court</span> Courthouse in Elgin, Scotland

Elgin Sheriff Court is a courthouse in the High Street, Elgin, Moray, Scotland. The structure is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkwall Sheriff Court</span> Courthouse in Kirkwall, Scotland

Kirkwall Sheriff Court is a judicial structure in Watergate, Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. The structure, which was the headquarters of Orkney County Council and is currently used as a courthouse, is a Category C listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Buildings, Duns</span> Courthouse in Duns, Scotland

County Buildings is a municipal structure in Newtown Street, Duns, Scottish Borders, Scotland. The complex, which was the headquarters of Berwickshire County Council and was also used as a courthouse, is a Category C listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Buildings, Alloa</span> County building in Alloa, Scotland

County Buildings is a municipal structure in Drysdale Street, Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. The structure, which was the headquarters of Clackmannanshire County Council and is currently used as courthouse, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stranraer Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Stranraer, Scotland

Stranraer Sheriff Court is a judicial building in Lewis Street, Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The building, which continues to be used as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forfar Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Forfar, Scotland

Forfar Sheriff Court is a judicial building in Market Street, Forfar, Angus, Scotland. The building, which remains in use as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oban Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Oban, Scotland

Oban Sheriff Court is a judicial building on Albany Street in Oban in Scotland. The building, which remains in use as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Sheriff Court, Falkirk</span> Judicial building in Falkirk, Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilmarnock Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Kilmarnock, Scotland

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court is a judicial building on St Marnock Street in Kilmarnock in Scotland. The building operates as a courthouse within the sheriffdom of North Strathclyde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Sheriff Court, Kilmarnock</span> Judicial building in Kilmarnock, Scotland

The Old Sheriff Court is a judicial building on St Marnock Street in Kilmarnock in Scotland. The building, which currently accommodates the procurator fiscal's office, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, formerly known as County Buildings, is a judicial building on Whytescauseway in Kirkcaldy in Scotland. The building, which continues to operate a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linlithgow Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Linlithgow, Scotland

Linlithgow Sheriff Court is a former judicial building on the High Street in Linlithgow in Scotland. The building, which has been converted for residential use, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort William Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Fort William, Scotland

Fort William Sheriff Court is a judicial building on the High Street in Fort William in Scotland. The building, which continues to be used as a courthouse, is a Category C listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lochmaddy Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Lochmaddy, Scotland

Lochmaddy Sheriff Court, also known as County Buildings, is a judicial building in Lochmaddy in Scotland. The building, which continues to be used as a courthouse, is a Category C listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peterhead Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Peterhead, Scotland

Peterhead Sheriff Court is a judicial building in Queen Street in Peterhead in Scotland. The building was expanded with a large extension in the late 1990s and continues to be used as a courthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portree Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Portree, Scotland

Portree Sheriff Court is a judicial building in Somerled Square in Portree on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The building, which continues to be used as a courthouse, is a Category C listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jedburgh Sheriff Court</span> Judicial building in Jedburgh, Scotland

Jedburgh Sheriff Court, formerly County Buildings, is a judicial building in the Market Square in Jedburgh in Scotland. The building, which continues to be used as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Historic Environment Scotland. "Stornoway Sheriff Court and Former Jail, including boundary walls, archway and railings, Lewis Street, Stornoway (Category B Listed Building) (LB41710)" . Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  2. ↑ "Ordnance Survey Six-inch 1st edition, 1843–1882" . Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  3. ↑ "Orinsay – a survival story against all the odds". Stornoway Gazette. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  4. ↑ "Orinsay…crofting history recalled". We Love the West Side. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  5. ↑ "The Orinsay Trials IV: the Second Trial". Hebridean Connections. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  6. ↑ "Book Review: When I Heard the Bell: The Loss of the Iolaire". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Brian (2 January 1994). "New Year's Day 1919 / A private tragedy at Lewis". The Independent . London. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  8. ↑ "The Iolaire disaster, where 200 men died yards from shore". The Scotsman . Edinburgh. 12 June 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  9. ↑ "Iolaire Disaster". The Scotsman. p. 7. Retrieved 21 September 2024– via National Library of Scotland.
  10. ↑ "Stornoway Sheriff Court". Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  11. ↑ "Island sheriff court trials moved to mainland". The Herald. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  12. ↑ "Court centralisation: Removal of island jury trials "undermines justice"". West Highland Free Press. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.