Gloucester Crown Court

Gloucester Crown Court is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at Bearland, Gloucester, England.[1] The court, which is located at the back of Gloucester Shire Hall, is a grade II listed building.[2]

Gloucester Crown Court
Gloucester Crown Court
LocationGloucester, Gloucestershire
Coordinates51.86608°N 2.24906°W / 51.86608; -2.24906
Built1816
ArchitectRobert Smirke
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameCrown Courts
Designated23 January 1952
Reference no.1271573
Gloucester Crown Court is located in Gloucestershire
Gloucester Crown Court
Location of Gloucester Crown Court in Gloucestershire

History

The original venue for judicial hearings in Gloucester was the Booth Hall in Westgate Street which dated from the mid-16th century.[3] However, it was also used as an entertainment venue and, by the early 19th century, it became necessary to commission a dedicated courthouse.[4]

The building was designed by Sir Robert Smirke in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and opened in August 1816.[5][6][7] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage in the form of a polygon of nine equal sides facing onto Bearland. The central bay featured a portico, which was projected forward, contained a round headed doorway with a fanlight and was surmounted by a parapet; it was flanked by single-storey porters' offices on either side. The main two-storey structure behind was fenestrated by plain sash windows on the ground floor and by alternating round headed windows and round headed blind recesses on the first floor, and was surmounted by a parapet.[2] Internally, the principal rooms were two full-height semi-circular courtrooms separated by a main corridor which was accessed through the portico.[8] The separate courtrooms enabled nisi prius i.e. civil cases and criminal cases to be tried simultaneously, and the gallery could accommodate 400 people.[9]

The building was used for the assizes and for the court of quarter sessions and, following implementation of the Courts Act 1971, for hearings of the Crown Court.[10] Notable cases have included the trial and conviction in April 2021, of the footballer, Shayne Bradley, for stalking his girlfriend.[11] They have also included the trial and conviction of teenager, Harley Demmon, in November 2021, for the murder of another teenager, Josh Hall.[12][13]

See also

References
  1. "Gloucester Crown Court". Court and tribunal finder. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  2. Historic England. "Crown Courts (1271573)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  3. "7 hidden Gloucester buildings you can explore this month". Gloucester Live. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  4. "A brief history of Gloucester's Civic Buildings". Gloucestershire County Council. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  5. "'Gloucester: Public buildings', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4, the City of Gloucester, ed. N M Herbert". London: British History Online. 1988. pp. 248–251. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  6. Verey, David (1976). Gloucestershire: The Vale and the Forest of Dean (The Buildings of England). Penguin Books. p. 239. ISBN 978-0140710410.
  7. "New courthouse". The Gloucester Journal. 19 August 1816. The whole business of these Assizes will be carried on in this superb edifice, which does infinite credit to the taste of Mr Smirke, the architect.
  8. Wallsgrove, Jon (2019). The Architecture of Law Courts. Paragon Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-1782227021.
  9. Bond, Frederick (1848). The History of Gloucester; and Descriptive Account of the Same City and Its Suburbs, Etc. F. Bond and S, Dickerson. p. 40.
  10. Jordan, Christine (2016). Gloucester in 50 Buildings. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445652320.
  11. "Shayne Bradley: Ex-Premier League footballer jailed for stalking". BBC. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  12. "Sentencing of Josh Hall killer put back". Gloucestershire Live. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  13. "Joshua Hall murder: Harley Demmon, 16, jailed for 14 years". BBC. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.

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