The Carlisle Courts of Justice is a

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

venue, which deals with criminal cases, and a

County Court A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the high ...

venue, which deals with civil cases, in Earl Street,

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, England.

History

Until the early 1990s, all criminal court hearings in Carlisle were held in the

Carlisle Citadel Carlisle Citadel or The Citadel is a group of buildings on the site of a former early modern fortress on English Street in Carlisle, Cumbria. It comprises two towers, both of which are Grade I listed buildings: the Nisi Prius Courthouse and the ...

. However, as the number of court cases in Carlisle grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for criminal matters: the site selected by the

Lord Chancellor's Department The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales. Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chancell ...

had been occupied by Hetherington's Cattle Auction Market which dated back at least to the mid-19th century. The new building was designed by Napper Collerton in the Modernist style, built in red brick with stone dressings at a cost of £9.3 million, and was completed in 1992. The design involved a broadly symmetrical main frontage facing south down Earl Street with the end bays projected forward as pavilions. The central bay, which was also projected forward, featured a revolving door on the ground floor, a large arched window on the first floor and an

oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

on the second floor, with a Royal coat of arms in the gable above. The connecting bays flanking the central bay featured

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...

structures spanning the first and second floors: the connecting bays were fenestrated by round headed widows on the ground floor, tall

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...

s on the first floor and small square windows on the second floor. At roof level, there was a

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate five courtrooms. A statue of the former

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, Major

Francis Aglionby Maj. Francis Aglionby (born Yates; 12 May 1777 – 1 July 1840) was an English Whig politician.''Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900'' Aglionby was born at Skirwith Abbey, Cumberland, the eldest son of John Ofeur Yates, and Mary Aglionby. ...

, which was sculpted by

Musgrave Watson Musgrave Lewthwaite Watson (24 January 1804 – 28 October 1847) was an English sculptor of the early 19th century. Life Watson was born on 24 January 1804 the son of Thomas Watson of the Bogs, Sebergham, a farm near Carlisle in Cumberland, bei ...

and had been on display in the entrance hall at Carlisle Citadel since 1843, was transferred to the courtyard in front of the main entrance of the new Courts of Justice shortly after it opened. Notable cases have included the trial and conviction of the alleged sergeant-at-arms of the Lancaster branch of the Satans Slaves Motorcycle Club, Paul Holmes, in June 2016, for the illegal possession of a large quantity of firearms.

References

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External links

Court information
Carlisle, Cumbria Crown Court buildings Government buildings completed in 1992 Court buildings in England