Magistrates Court

Magistrates Court

This magistrates court was built in 1912 by John Dixon Butler, FRIBA, Architect and Surveyor to the Metropolitan Police, with minor alterations made later in the 20th century. It is constructed of red brick with rubbed red brick quoins, ashlar Portland stone dressings, and a stone plinth. The roof is concealed behind a parapet. The windows are timber sashes with horns. The building is designed in a free classical style with Baroque emphasis.

Exterior

The frontage to Market Street is symmetrical with a central steep mannered pediment positioned over a set-back, rusticated ashlar entrance bay. Above the entrance door is an open segmental pediment, with a moulded architrave framing both the door and the window above it. A coat of arms is set within the pediment. On either side of the entrance bay are three ground and first floor windows, linked together by moulded stone surrounds and panels. A heavily moulded dentil cornice runs through the pediment and continues along the return elevations. Tall stone end chimneys are banded with red brick. Rubbed red brick quoins appear at the entrance bay, the ends of the building, and at the ends of the return elevations to Bathway and Calderwood Streets. A side entrance to Bathway has a stone architrave, with a lower, plainer section below featuring a glazed brown brick plinth.

Interior

The front offices and main security entrance room have been modernised and contain few original fittings of interest. The centre of the building contains the main waiting area, which retains its original polychrome 'pebble' floor with 'MP' worked in mosaic, signifying the building's use by the Metropolitan Police. This room has three doorways with moulded surrounds that segregate access to the court room, dock, and public gallery.

The main court room is the finest interior space. It has a prominent lantern ceiling with clear, blue, and yellow glass arranged geometrically within a moulded timber frame. A frieze of vines and fruit descends from the lantern to meet a steeply coved ceiling. The walls are covered with full-height timber panelling beneath a prominent cornice. The original arrangement of benches largely survives, though additional security panelling has been inserted at the dock. A GR monogram appears in plaster on either side of the coat of arms. The magistrates' benches are raised on an apsidal stage, fully lined with panelling and having two doors to chambers.

A timber staircase is located inside the Bathway entrance. The upper floor contains a smaller court room with a later-20th-century concave timber wall covering. The retiring room features a cornice and a timber fireplace with green thing brick inset. The basement contains cells, not inspected during the survey but reported to number approximately ten, with replaced doors.

Historical Background

Woolwich Magistrates Court replaced an earlier police court that had stood on this site from the mid-19th century. John Dixon Butler, the architect, succeeded his father John Butler as Architect and Surveyor to the Metropolitan Police in 1895 and served in this post until his death in 1920. During his tenure, he designed over 200 police stations and courts.