The Sessions House is a

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

in Harris Street, Preston,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. The courthouse, which continues to be used for judicial purposes as well as being used as administrative offices for

His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom), Ministry of Justice. It was created on 1 April 2011 (as Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service) by the merger of Her Maj ...

, 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 building was commissioned to replace the old Sessions House in Stanley Street which had been built in 1829. After deciding that the old Sessions House was inadequate for their needs, the justices decided to procure a new building: the site selected was some open land opposite the

Harris Museum The Harris Museum is a Grade I-listed building in Preston, Lancashire, England. Founded by Edmund Harris in 1877, it is a local history and fine art museum. History In the 19th century, it became legal to raise money for libraries by local ...

. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by

Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby (15 January 1841 – 14 June 1908), known as Hon. Frederick Stanley until 1886 and Lord Stanley of Preston between 1886–1893, was a Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician in the Un ...

, in a ceremony presided over by Sir J. T. Hibbert, on 2 February 1900. It was designed by the Manchester architect, Henry Littler, in the Edwardian Baroque style, constructed by David Tullis and Sons and opened on 18 June 1904. The cost of the building was estimated at the start of its construction to be £90,000, the equivalent of more than £9m in 2023. The masonry is Longridge stone throughout. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of thirteen bays facing Harris Street. The central section featured a round-headed doorway with a balcony above; there was a round-headed window with elaborate detailing on the first floor and oculus on the second floor flanked by 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 which spanned the second and third floors. There was a four-stage tower above, which at high, made the building one of the tallest buildings in Preston. Cases heard within the sessions house have included the trials and subsequent convictions of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson for the

murder of James Bulger On 12 February 1993 in Merseyside, England, two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, abducted, tortured, and murdered a two-year-old boy, James Patrick Bulger (16 March 1990 – 12 February 1993). Thompson and Venables led Bulger ...

in November 1993 and of

Harold Shipman Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English doctor in general practice and serial killer. He is considered to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern ...

for the murder of 15 patients under his care in January 2000. Internally, there are two courtrooms on the first floor that are used daily by

Preston Crown Court Preston Crown Court, or more properly the Crown Court at Preston, is a criminal court on the Ring Way in Preston, Lancashire, England. The court is based on two sites in the city; Preston Combined Court Centre on Ringway and Sessions House on Lan ...

together with two smaller courtrooms on the ground floor used by the County Court and the Family Court. The Courts Service Area Director's office for Lancashire and Cumbria is also situated in the building.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sessions House, Preston Buildings and structures in Preston Grade II* listed buildings in Lancashire Crown Court buildings Edwardian architecture in the United Kingdom Government buildings completed in 1904 Grade II* listed government buildings 20th-century architecture in the United Kingdom Court buildings in England

History

See also

Notes