The Sessions House is a

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

in Harris Street, Preston,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. The courthouse, which continues to be used for judicial purposes as well as being used as administrative offices for

His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. It was created on 1 April 2011 (as Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service) by the merger of Her Majesty's Courts Service and the Tribunal ...

, is a Grade II*

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 building was commissioned to replace the old Sessions House in Stanley Street. After deciding that the old Sessions House was inadequate for their needs, the justices decided to procure a new building: the site selected was some open land opposite the

Harris Museum The Harris Museum is a Grade I-listed building in Preston, Lancashire, England. Founded by Edmund Harris in 1877, it is a local history and fine art museum. History In the 19th century, it became legal to raise money for libraries by local ...

. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 2 February 1900. It was designed by the Manchester architect, Henry Littler, in the Edwardian Baroque style, constructed of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

by David Tullis and Sons and opened on 18 June 1904. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of thirteen bays facing Harris Street. The central section featured a round-headed doorway with a balcony above; there was a round-headed window with elaborate detailing on the first floor and

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 flanked by huge

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

columns which spanned the second and third floors. There was a four-stage tower above, which at high, made the building one of the tallest buildings in Preston. Cases heard within the sessions house have included the trials and subsequent convictions of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson for the

murder of James Bulger James Patrick Bulger (16 March 1990 – 12 February 1993) was a two-year-old boy from Kirkby, Merseyside, England, who was child abduction, abducted, tortured, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson (born 23 August 1982) and Jon ...

in November 1993, and of

Harold Shipman Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known by the public as Doctor Death and to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner and serial killer. He is considered to be one of the most prolif ...

for the murder of 15 patients under his care in January 2000 as well as of Stuart Hall for indecent assault in May 2014. Cases also included the trials and subsequent acquittals of

William Roache William Patrick Roache (born 25 April 1932) is an English actor. He is best known for playing Ken Barlow in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' since it was first broadcast on 9 December 1960. He is listed in the ''Guinness World Records ...

over rape allegations in January 2014 and of

Nigel Evans Nigel Martin Evans (born 10 November 1957) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ribble Valley (UK Parliament constituency), Ribble Valley constituency in Lancashire si ...

over sexual assault allegations in April 2014. Internally, there are two courtrooms on the first floor that are used daily by

Preston Crown Court Preston Crown Court or more properly the Crown Court at Preston is a criminal court in Preston, Lancashire, England. The court is based on two sites in the city; Preston Combined Court Centre on Ringway and Sessions House on Lancaster Road. A firs ...

together with two smaller courtrooms on the ground floor used by the

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 ...

and the Family Court. The Courts Service Area Director's office for Lancashire and Cumbria is also situated in the building.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sessions House, Preston Buildings and structures in Preston Grade II* listed buildings in Lancashire Crown Court buildings Edwardian architecture Government buildings completed in 1904 Grade II* listed government buildings 20th-century architecture in the United Kingdom

History

See also

Notes