Taunton Shire Hall is a municipal building on Shuttern in Taunton, Somerset. The Shire Hall, which serves as 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 ...

, is a Grade II listed building.

History

Since the English Civil War, when the castle was repaired, the county

assizes 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 ...

had been held in Taunton Castle. Indeed, it was at Taunton Castle that, in the aftermath of the

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ir ...

, Judge Jeffreys held the Bloody Assizes from 17 September 1685 to 19 September 1685. After the justices decided, in the mid-19th century, that the facilities the castle were no longer adequate, they chose to procure a new purpose-built building on a site to the south west of the castle. The foundation stone for the building was laid by the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Viscount Portman, on 14 August 1855. It was designed by William Bonython Moffatt in the Gothic style, built by a local contractor, George Pollard, and completed in 1858. The design, which was crenellated, involved an asymmetrical main frontage with eleven bays facing onto Shuttern; the central section, which slightly projected forward, featured a large archway on the ground floor with a balcony and an

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...

on the first floor and an

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 ...

in the gable; there were turrets at roof level. Internally, the principal rooms were the courtrooms and the Grand Jury Room which was behind the oriel window. Shortly after the building opened, a bust of the locally-born naval commander, Admiral Robert Blake, by Edgar Papworth was installed in the reception area. A bust of the locally-born novelist and dramatist, Henry Fielding, was unveiled by the American Romantic poet, James Russell Lowell, on 8 September 1883 and a bust of the locally-born soldier, Colonel

John Chard Colonel John Rouse Merriott Chard (21 December 1847 – 1 November 1897) was a British Army officer who received the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for valour "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the Br ...

VC, was unveiled by the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, Field Marshal

Viscount Wolseley Viscount Wolseley, of Wolseley in the County of Stafford, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom created in 1885 for the Anglo-Irish military commander Garnet Wolseley, 1st Baron Wolseley. It became extinct upon the death of his dau ...

, on 2 November 1898 The Shire Hall continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...

. Following the First World War, a plaque was unveiled which commemorated county council employees who had died in the war. After the County Council moved to County Hall in 1935, the former Shire Hall continued to be used as a

. A programme of refurbishment works were completed in 2018 following the discovery of structural issues with the building.

References

{{reflist Grade II listed buildings in Taunton Deane Buildings and structures in Taunton Somerset County Council County halls in England Government buildings completed in 1858