Chester Crown Court is a judicial facility at Castle Square in Chester, Cheshire. The building, which forms part of a series of imposing buildings at

Chester Castle Chester Castle is in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It is sited at the southwest extremity of the area bounded by the city walls. The castle stands on an eminence overlooking the River Dee. In the castle complex are the remaining part ...

, is a Grade I

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

The current building replaced a previous shire hall which had been built just outside the main gate in 1310 but which was in a derelict state by the late 18th century. In 1785 the justices insisted that an architectural competition be held for a new shire hall as well as a new prison to be located behind the new shire hall: the site selected for the new complex formed part of the outer bailey of the castle. Work on the new complex began with the demolition of the old buildings in 1788. The new shire hall was designed by Thomas Harrison and completed in 1801. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with nineteen bays facing onto Castle Square with the end bays projecting forwards slightly; the central section of seven bays featured a large

hexastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

portico with twelve

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 c ...

columns (in two rows), projecting forwards by about with a plain tympanum above. Its two-storey façade was about long and high. Internally, the principal room was an imposing main courtroom which was inspired by the School of Anatomy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. It was described by

Charles Dupin Baron Pierre Charles François Dupin (6 October 1784, Varzy, Nièvre – 18 January 1873, Paris, France) was a French Catholic mathematician, engineer, economist and politician, particularly known for work in the field of mathematics, where the ...

as "most assuredly the handsomest of this kind that is to be seen in Europe." The prison, which Harrison had also designed and which had been located behind the shire hall, was demolished in 1902. A statue of Queen Victoria, designed by

Frederick William Pomeroy Frederick William Pomeroy (9 October 1856 – 26 May 1924) was a prolific British sculptor of architectural and monumental works. He became a leading sculptor in the New Sculpture movement, a group distinguished by a stylistic turn towards na ...

, was unveiled outside the share hall by the

Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of the County Palatine of Chester. Since 1689, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Cheshire. Lord Lieutenants of Cheshire Vice Lieutenants * Honourable Alan de Tat ...

Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton (17 January 1832 – 16 March 1909) was an English Conservative Party politician from the Egerton family. He sat in the House of Commons from 1858 to 1883 when he inherited his peerage and was elevated to ...

, on 17 October 1903. The building was used as a facility for dispensing justice from the early 19th century and was latterly used as a Crown Court. Famous trials at the court have included those of the

Ian Brady and Myra Hindley Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

, known as the Moors Murderers, in April 1966. Bullet proof glass was erected around the dock to ensure the two defendants were protected during the trial. The court was also the venue for the trial of Peter Reyn-Bardt, accused of murdering his estranged wife, Malika de Fernandez in December 1983; Reyn-Bardt was convicted based on his confession even though the human remains which had been dug up and which had led to his arrest were subsequently dated to the Roman period. The court also saw the trial and conviction of Howard Hughes for the murder of Sophie Hook in June 1996.

References

{{reflist Grade I listed buildings in Chester Government buildings completed in 1801 Crown Court buildings Court buildings in England

History

See also

References