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 ...

of England and Wales dates back to the County Courts Act 1846, which received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

on 28 August 1846 and was brought into force on 15 March 1847.

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

(with the exception of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, which was outside the scope of the Act) were divided into 60 circuits, with a total of 491 county courts within these circuits. The then

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

Lord Cottenham Charles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham, (; 29 April 178129 April 1851) was an English lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Background and education Cottenham was born in London, the second ...

, wanted everyone to be within seven miles of a court, and the final scheme came close to that aim. One county court judge was appointed to each circuit, assisted by one or more registrars with some limited judicial powers, and would travel between the courts in his area as necessary, sitting in each court at least once a month. Few permanent courts were needed initially, given the infrequency of court hearings, and temporary accommodation such as a town hall would often be used where there was no existing courthouse for use. In some places, a building is now shared with 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 ...

(as at Maidstone Combined Court Centre, for example), the

Family Court Family courts were originally created to be a Court of Equity convened to decide matters and make orders in relation to family law, including custody of children, and could disregard certain legal requirements as long as the petitioner/plaintif ...

, or a

magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

. The judicial business of the County Court is now carried out by circuit judges (a term introduced 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 district judges (as the post of registrar was renamed by section 74 of the

Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the legal profession and courts of England and Wales. The Act was the culmination of a series of reports and reforms that started with ...

). Part-time judges ( recorders, deputy district judges and some retired judges) also sit in the county court. As at 1 April 2015, there are 640 circuit judges and 441 district judges. The system of 60 circuits was abolished in 1970. Over time, whilst new courts have been opened in various locations, there has been an overall reduction in the number of locations where a county court is held. In June 2010, the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

announced plans to close 54 county courts and 103 magistrates' courts, in order to save £15m in annual running costs and £22m in necessary maintenance. After consultation, it was decided to keep five of these county courts open: Barnsley, Bury, Llangefni, the Mayor's and City of London Court, and Skipton. From 22 April 2014, the

Crime and Courts Act 2013 The Crime and Courts Act 2013 (c. 22) is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom introduced to the House of Lords in May 2012. Its main purpose is to create the United Kingdom National Crime Agency which replaced the Serious Or ...

replaced the previous system of county courts for different localities with one County Court that operates throughout England and Wales, sitting in multiple locations simultaneously. In July 2015, further proposals to close nineteen County Court venues were announced. All name changes before 1 August 1983 reflect changes in the locations where the court sat. Before then, a county court with more than one location in its title would sit at each location named. The obligation for one court to sit in multiple locations was removed by the Civil Courts Order 1983. Instead, it was specified that a county court was to be held at each location named in the order and courts were to be named after that one location (save for a few exceptions where the name of a former court town was retained in the court's title, such as the Aldershot and Farnham County Court).The Civil Courts Order 1983 (SI 1983/713) (11 May 1983) On 22 April 2014 the various county courts were merged into one single County Court for England and Wales, and since then the venues have been referred as, for example, "the County Court at Exeter" instead of "Exeter County Court" as previously.

Venues

Until 1 January 1937, when the County Court Districts (Name of Court) Order 1936 came into force, the full title of each court was ''The County Court of (county) holden at (location/locations)'', using the historic county names for England and for Wales. Thereafter, each court was renamed as ''(location/s) County Court''. For brevity, the latter form is used throughout in this table, and "County Court" is abbreviated to "CC".

References

;General *Polden, Patrick (1999). ''A History of the County Court, 1846–1971''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

. . *For the courts that opened on 15 March 1847: the

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' Ki ...

of 9 March 1847 bringing the 1846 Act into force on 15 March 1847 and establishing the original 491 county courts was published in a supplement to the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

'' on 10 March 1847. *For all courts
the HMCTS CourtFinder
gives details of every court, including details of which share premises with crown courts or magistrates' courts. ;Specific *Save where references are given to publication in the London Gazette, the

Statutory Instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

s listed below were published by

Her Majesty's Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...

and the date that the Order was made is given. Statutory Instruments from 1987 onwards are available online. {{DEFAULTSORT:County court venues in England and Wales England and Wales, County List County Courts 1847 establishments in England 1847 establishments in Wales Wales law-related lists England law-related lists Lists of buildings and structures in Wales Lists of buildings and structures in England

Venues

See also

References