A sessions house in the United Kingdom was historically 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 ...

that served as a dedicated court of quarter sessions, where criminal trials were held four times a year on

quarter days In British and Irish tradition, the quarter days were the four dates in each year on which servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due. They fell on four religious festivals roughly three months apart and close to the two solstic ...

. Sessions houses were also used for other purposes to do with the administration of justice, for example as a venue for the courts of assize (assizes). The courts of quarter sessions and assize, which did not necessarily sit in dedicated premises, were replaced in England by a permanent

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 ...

by the

Courts Act 1971 The Courts Act 1971 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the purpose of which was to reform and modernise the courts system of England and Wales. It established the Crown Court, introduced the posts of circuit judge and recorde ...

, and in 1975 in Scotland by other courts. Several buildings formerly used as sessions houses are still named "Sessions House"; some are still used for the administration of justice (e.g., London Sessions House, now the

Central Criminal Court A Central Criminal Court refers to major legal court responsible for trying crimes within a given jurisdiction. Such courts include: *The name by which the Crown Court is known when it sits in the City of London *Central Criminal Court of England ...

at the Old Bailey), while others have different uses. Some are listed buildings of architectural importance. An incomplete list of English and Welsh sessions houses: *Central Criminal Court at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, formerly sessions house of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of the City of London and of Middlesex * Sessions House, Beverley, a former courthouse in East Riding of Yorkshire * Sessions House, Liverpool, a former courthouse in Liverpool * Sessions House, Northampton, a former courthouse in Northamptonshire * Sessions House, Preston, a courthouse in Lancashire * Middlesex Sessions House, a former courthouse in the London Borough of Islington * Sessions House, Usk, a former courthouse in Monmouthshire, Wales An incomplete list of Irish sessions houses, for the period up to 1900 under British rule. * Sessions House, Dublin, Ireland. * Sessions House, Market Square, Roscommon, Ireland NLI MS 10,990 Some buildings in the US are known as "Sessions House"; some are on the National Register of Historic Places: * Sessions House (Painesville, Ohio) * Sessions-Pope-Sheild House, Yorktown, Virginia

References

External links

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for "Sessions House" on Historic England's list of listed buildings (''109 hits Courthouses {{law-stub