King's Lynn Crown Court
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King's Lynn Crown Court is a
Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...
venue which deals with criminal cases at College Lane,
King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...
, England. The building also accommodates the local
Magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...
.


History

Until the early 1980s, criminal court hearings were held in the
Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a guild hall or guild house, is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commo ...
in Saturday Market Place. However, as the number of court cases in King's Lynn grew, it became necessary to commission a more substantial courthouse for criminal 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 Chance ...
, on the corner of College Lane and South Quay, had been occupied by a maltster's warehouse, operated by Alexander and James Bowker, which was built in the late 18th century. The new building was designed by Leonard Manasseh and Partners in the Modern style, built in red brick at a cost of £1.1 million, and was completed in 1982. The design involved a long asymmetrical main frontage facing onto College Lane. The main entrance was recessed into the main frontage at the left-hand end; a Royal coat of arms of King
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
, which had been recovered from the East Gate when it was demolished in the early 19th century, was installed at first-floor level above the entrance. The rest of the main frontage was fenestrated by pairs of tall
casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...
s inserted into triangular recesses along the whole length of the building. On the South Quay frontage there was a prominent
polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...
al look-out tower which recalled a tower which had projected from the old warehouse. Internally, the principal room inside the complex was the main courtroom. Notable cases have included the trial and conviction of Birute Klicneliene, in November 2022, for the murder of Dace Kalkerte, who had been stabbed 16 times.


References

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External links


Court information
King's Lynn Crown Court buildings Government buildings completed in 1982 Court buildings in England