The Manchester Assize Courts was a building housing

law court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...

s on Great Ducie Street in the

Strangeways HM Prison Manchester is a Category A and B men's prison in Manchester, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It is still commonly referred to as Strangeways, which was its former official name derived from the area in which it is ...

district of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England. It was tall and from 1864 to 1877 the tallest building in Manchester. Widely admired, it has been referred to as one of Britain's 'lost buildings'. It was severely damaged by wartime bombing in the

Manchester Blitz The Manchester Blitz (also known as the Christmas Blitz) was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in North West England during the Second World War by the German ''Luftwaffe''. It was one of three major raids o ...

, and then the remains were demolished in 1957.

History

The Assize Courts was the first civic building to be constructed in Manchester after the town hall on King Street by Francis Goodwin in 1819. ''The Builder'' described it as the most important building outside

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

.Parkinson-Bailey (2000), p 100. Its design was the result of a competition in 1858 that attracted more than 100 entries. The competition was won by

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

whose design beat schemes from other renowned architects such as

Thomas Worthington Thomas or Tom Worthington may refer to: *Thomas Worthington (Douai) (1549–1627), English Catholic priest and third President of Douai College * Thomas Worthington (Dominican) (1671–1754), English Dominican friar and writer * Thomas Worthington ...

and

Edward Walters Edward Walters (December 1808, in Fenchurch Buildings, London – 22 January 1872, in 11 Oriental Place, Brighton) was an English architect. Life Walters was the son of an architect who died young. He began his career in the office of Isaac Cla ...

. Waterhouse designed the building in the

Venetian Gothic Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading ...

style; construction began in 1859 and was completed in 1864. The nearby 1862

Strangeways Prison HM Prison Manchester is a Category A and B men's prison in Manchester, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It is still commonly referred to as Strangeways, which was its former official name derived from the area in which it is l ...

was included in his design as part of the scheme; it is a Grade II listed structure. The building contained exterior sculptures by

Thomas Woolner Thomas Woolner (17 December 1825 – 7 October 1892) was an English sculptor and poet who was one of the founder-members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was the only sculptor among the original members. After participating in the found ...

and the firm of

O'Shea and Whelan O'Shea and Whelan was an Irish family practice of stonemasons and sculptors from Ballyhooly in County Cork. They were notable for their involvement in Ruskinian gothic architecture in the mid-19th century. Practice The practice comprised the broth ...

. They depicted lawgivers from history, along with a "drunk woman", a "good woman", a scene of the

Judgment of Solomon The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which Solomon ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child. Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting the baby be cut in two ...

and carvings depicting different punishments throughout history. As part of the court system changes, the

assize court The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

system in Manchester was abolished in 1956 and changed to the

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 ...

system. The courts building was severely damaged in the

in 1940 and 1941. It was said that everything was destroyed except the Great Ducie Street facade and the judges' lodgings.Parkinson-Bailey (2000), p. 102 Some war-damaged buildings in the city were repaired, but Manchester Assize Courts was demolished in 1957, soon after the assize court abolition. Some of the sculptures were preserved and incorporated into the new Crown Court building on Crown Square.Hartwell (2002) p.248.

Gallery

File:Assize.jpg, Illustration of the Assize Courts from

Charles Eastlake Charles Locke Eastlake (11 March 1836 – 20 November 1906) was a British architect and furniture designer. His uncle, Sir Charles Lock Eastlake PRA (born in 1793), was a Keeper of the National Gallery, from 1843 to 1847, and from 1855 its fi ...

's ''History of the Gothic Revival'' Assize Courts, Manchester.jpg, Alternative view File:Manchester Assize Courts, Interior (crop).jpg, Image of interior

Notes

References

* *{{Cite book , title=Pevsner Architecture Guides: Manchester , last=Hartwell , first=Clare , year=2002 , publisher=Yale University Press

External links

Photo of the courtsPhoto of the courts being demolished
Government buildings completed in 1864 Alfred Waterhouse buildings Demolished buildings and structures in Manchester Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed during World War II Former buildings and structures in Manchester History of Manchester Buildings and structures demolished in 1957

History

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links