County Hall, formerly the Old Sessions House, is a municipal building in Sandling Road in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. The county hall, which is the headquarters of

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Kent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the Unitary authorities of England, unitary auth ...

, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The original Sessions House, which was designed by

Sir Robert Smirke Sir Robert Smirke (1 October 1780 – 18 April 1867) was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles (such as Gothic and Tudor). As an attached (i.e. official) arch ...

in the

Greek Revival style Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

, was completed in 1824. The original design involved a symmetrical main frontage facing south west; the central section of three bays featured an arched doorway with a

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

flanked by two narrow windows and there was a triple window on the first floor; the end bays of the central section slightly projected forwards. The building was initially used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

, which established county councils in every county, it also became the offices and meeting place for

. Internally, the principal room in the Sessions House was the council chamber. Invicta - geograph

The construction of a

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

, designed by the county architect, F. W. Ruck, in the neo-baroque style, was completed in November 1913. The design of the facade involved a symmetrical main frontage of nine bays facing south west; the central section of three bays featured a large stone archway with iron gates on the ground floor; there was a triple window on the first floor and two

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s on the second floor with pairs of huge

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

columns flanking the windows on the second and third floors supporting a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

above. A further extension was added in the 1930s. Invicta House, a six-storey hexagonal building was built adjacent to County Hall in order to create extra accommodation capacity in the 1960s. County Hall continued to serve as the main venue for the

assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, 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 ex ...

in the county of Kent for much of the 20th century. Following the implementation of the

Courts Act 1971 The Courts Act 1971The citation of this act by this short title is authorised bsection 59(1)of this act. (c. 23) 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 ...

, the building served as a venue for crown court hearings until the new

Law Courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts genera ...

in Barker Road were completed in 1983. The Centre for Kentish Studies, established at County Hall in 1933, relocated to the new Kent History and Library Centre in James Whatman Way, which also incorporated the town's former Central Library, in April 2012. In March 2020 the county council announced that it was considering leaving the building and moving to alternative premises which would be less costly to maintain. Works of art in the county hall include a portrait of the Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, Lionel Sackville-West, 3rd Baron Sackville, by

John St Helier Lander John St Helier Lander (19 October 1868 in Jersey – 12 February 1944 in Witley, Surrey) was a noted Portrait painting, portrait painter.Anonymous (1944). Mr. J. St H. Lander. ''The Times'' February 15, 1944 p 6 Born John Helier Lander, he added ...

and a portrait of the

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

George Harris, 4th Baron Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3February 185124March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay, best known for developing cricket administration via Marylebone ...

, by

Hubert von Herkomer Sir Hubert von Herkomer (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered fo ...

References

{{reflist Grade II listed buildings in Kent M Government buildings completed in 1824