The Stafford Combined Court Centre 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, as well as 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 Victoria Square,

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

, England.

History

Until the early 1990s, criminal court hearings were held in the old Shire Hall. However, as the number of court cases in Stafford grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for both Crown Court hearings and County Court hearings. 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 ...

, on the east side of Victoria Square, had been occupied by an old cattle market. The new building was intended to compliment the style of the former County Education Offices, now part of

Stafford College Stafford College is a large provider of further and higher education based in Stafford, England. The college campus is on Earl Street in Stafford Town Centre. Qualifications taught include a wide range of A-levels, with additional choice offered ...

, on the opposite side of Victoria Square. It also needed to retain enough space for the Stafford Borough War Memorial, which had been designed by Joseph Whitehead in the form of a bronze figure of a soldier on a

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...

, and which had stood in Victoria Square since 1920. The centre was designed by Associated Architects of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in the

Modernist style Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

, built in red brick with stone drssings at a cost of £10.4 million, and was completed in 1991. The design involved a two-storey section on the left which stretched along Earl Street and a three-storey entrance block on the right which was well set back from the road. The section on the left featured three full-height curved windows, all facing southeast and each slightly recessed from the other as the section stretched along Earl Street; there was a Royal coat of arms mounted on the brickwork on the northwest facing wall as the section curved round towards the entrance block. The entrance block on the right featured three full-height glazed openings separated by brick

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

which supported an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and

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 ...

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate seven courtrooms. Notable cases have included the trial and conviction of Simon Smith, in July 1996, for the murder of his three children at their homes in

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

and in Stafford, and the trial and conviction of Horrett Campbell, in December 1996, for the attempted murder of three children and four women with a

machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...

at an infant school at Blakenhall, Wolverhampton,

References

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External links

Court information
Buildings and structures in Stafford Crown Court buildings Government buildings completed in 1991 Court buildings in England