The Old Sheriff Court is a former municipal and judicial building in Wilson Street, Glasgow, Scotland. The building, which is home to the

Scottish Youth Theatre Scottish Youth Theatre is a national young artists' development organisation. It designs projects that offer artistic development opportunities for aspiring and early career artists, age 14 to 25. The company was established in 1976 and has a free- ...

, is a Category B

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 structure was commissioned to serve as the city and county buildings for the City of Glasgow and

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

respectively. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 18 November 1842. The southern section, forming the city and county buildings, and the central section, forming the Merchant's House, were designed by Clarke & Bell in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

stone and were completed in 1844. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage facing onto the Wilson Street; the central section was formed by a

stylobate In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate () is the top step of the crepidoma, the stepped platform upon which colonnades of temple columns are placed (it is the floor of the temple). The platform was built on a leveling course that fl ...

on which was placed a full-height

hexastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

with

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 supporting 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 ...

, a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

and 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 ...

. The outer bays featured doorways flanked by

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

supporting

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

s on the ground floor,

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 flanked by brackets supporting cornices on the first floor, and plain sash windows on the second floor. The frieze was carved to a design by the sculptor, Walter Buchan. Internally, the principal rooms were the city council chamber and offices of the town clerks on the west side of the building, and the offices of the sheriff principal, the sheriff substitute and the sheriff clerk as well as a courtroom on the east side of the building. The southern section was extended to the north to connect with the central section to a design by Clarke & Bell between 1868 and 1871 and the complex was extended further north to Ingram Street to a design by Clarke & Bell to create larger council chambers and municipal offices for the city council which opened on 24 February 1874. The city council moved out again when they relocated to the new

Glasgow City Chambers The City Chambers or Municipal Buildings in Glasgow, Scotland, has functioned as the headquarters of Glasgow City Council since 1996, and of preceding forms of municipal government in the city since 1889. It is located on the eastern side of the ...

George Square George Square () is the principal Town square, civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, Glasgow, Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, Glasgow, St Andrew's ...

in October 1889. The building continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it fol ...

, which established county councils in every county, part of the complex was allocated for offices for use by Lanark County Council, who held their meetings in the sheriff's court. The county council also moved out again when they relocated to Lanarkshire House in Ingram Street in 1930. After the new

Glasgow Sheriff Court Glasgow Sheriff Court is a sheriff court in the Gorbals ( Laurieston) area of Glasgow, within the sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin. Reputedly the busiest court in Europe, it is a Category B listed building. History Until the mid-1980s, he ...

in Carlton Place in the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and e ...

area of Glasgow was opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

on 29 July 1986, the Old Sheriff Court was left vacant and began to deteriorate. The building was the subject of a major programme of restoration works carried out on behalf of

Persimmon The persimmon () is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus '' Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Chinese and Japanese kaki persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki''. In 2022, China produced 77% of the world's p ...

to a design by SMC Parr Architects in 2005. It saw the building converted into a theatre complex for the

, 62 residential apartments and the Citation Public House and Restaurant. The project was subsequently recognised by an award for Best Practice in Regeneration from the British Urban Regeneration Association.

Notes

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1844 County halls in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Glasgow Court buildings in Scotland City chambers and town halls in Scotland Listed government buildings in Scotland Neoclassical architecture in Scotland 1844 establishments in Scotland Sandstone buildings in Scotland

History

See also

Notes

References