Aylesbury Crown Court, also known as Old County Hall, is a former judicial facility and municipal building in Market Square,

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, completed in 1740. The building served as the meeting place of

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier local authority for the administrative county and later the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888 ...

from 1889 until 2012, and was used as a court until 2018. It is a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

Construction work on the building commenced in 1722. It was designed by local architect Thomas Harris in the

Palladian style Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

following a design competition supervised by

John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...

but, because of funding difficulties, it was only completed in 1740. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto the Market Square; the central section of three bays, which slightly projected forward, featured a doorway on the ground floor with a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

grill in the tympanum flanked by round-headed windows in a similar style; there was a round-headed window flanked by

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s and pedimented windows on the first floor and a large

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

at roof level topped with three

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

s. Internally, the principal room was the courtroom. The murderer,

John Tawell John Tawell (1784–1845) was a British murderer and the first person to be arrested as the result of telecommunications technology. Transported to Australia in 1814 for the crime of forgery, Tawell obtained a ticket of leave and started as a c ...

, who was arrested after police sent a telegraph message to

Paddington Station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great We ...

, was tried in the courtroom and then executed in the Market Square in 1845. An extension to the rear to accommodate the judge's lodgings was built to the designs of

Edward Buckton Lamb Edward Buckton Lamb (1806–1869) was a British architect who exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1824. Lamb was labelled a 'Rogue Gothic Revivalist', and his designs were roundly criticised for breaking with convention, especially by ''The E ...

and completed in 1850, while an extension to the south west, this time to accommodate the county constabulary headquarters, was built to the designs of David Brandon in a similar style to the main building and completed in 1865. The building continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of

. It was the scene of the trial of the

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

, Elizabeth Anne Bell, charged with carrying a loaded

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

outside the walls of

HM Prison Holloway HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016. Hist ...

in 1913. The courtroom was used for a court scene in the

Miss Marple Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Chr ...

film '' Murder Most Foul'' which was released in September 1964. The courtroom was badly damaged in a fire on 9 February 1970 and subsequently restored. The building was used for exterior court scenes in the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

Judge John Deed ''Judge John Deed'' is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court of Justice, High Court judge wh ...

in the early 2000s. The county council moved most of its staff to a new building called County Offices (later known as Old County Offices) on Walton Street in 1929, adjoining the back of the County Hall. This was further supplemented in 1966 by the New County Offices, also known as New County Hall, on the opposite side of Walton Street. Both Walton Street buildings were primarily office space, and council meetings continued to be held in Old County Hall until 2012, when they moved to Aylesbury Vale District Council's new council chamber (called the Oculus) at The Gateway on Gatehouse Road. An attempt to bring council meetings back to Old County Hall in 2016 was abandoned after one meeting due to concerns about the building's limited disabled access and difficulties of broadcasting meetings. The old building continued to be used as a Crown Court until 2018. After the Crown Court moved to the magistrates' courts building further south along Walton Street in March 2018, Buckinghamshire County Council indicated an intention to develop the old building as a hotel. However, the proposal, which would involve stripping the interior of the building, including the courthouse, met strong opposition from local people and a petition against the proposal was launched in October 2018.

References

{{Reflist Crown Court buildings Grade II* listed buildings in Buckinghamshire County halls in England Government buildings completed in 1740 Aylesbury

History

See also

References