County Court With Attached Gate Pier Wall And Railings

County Court with Attached Gate Pier, Wall and Railings

A court house in Italianate style, dated 1870 above the public entrance door, designed by architect Thomas Charles Sorby. The building was constructed in 1869–71 by E. Billings and Son of Cheltenham, with carving and plaster decorations by Messrs Mabey and railings supplied by Marshalls of Cheltenham.

Materials and Construction

The building is constructed of Postlip stone ashlar over brick, with Portland, Polyphant and Doulting stone dressings, and brick to the rear. It has a slate roof, a tall lateral stack, and a cornice and acroteria positioned off-centre to the left. The attached railings and gates feature iron construction with an ashlar end pier.

Plan and Layout

The building is two storeys with a basement. A public stairwell to the north-west has an apsidal end. A central hallway runs through the building, with clerks' and bailiffs' rooms on the ground floor and a court room at the centre of the first floor. Judges' and jury rooms occupy the first floor at the eastern side.

Exterior Features

The main southern elevation displays four first floor windows. The wide western range has a rounded end, followed by a blind entrance bay that projects forward, then a three-window range stepped forward again with a rounded end corner, and finally a one-window bay set back at the eastern end.

The ashlar detailing is extensive throughout. The ground floor features banded rustication drawn into raised voussoirs above openings. The first floor has a tooled band and quoins. First floor windows have tooled architraves bordered by slender colonnettes, frieze, and cornices. Those in the three-window range have cornices with lion masks, with the rightmost window having a shallow pediment with acroteria. All windows have aprons, those to the right featuring circular motifs, band, and acanthus modillion cornice. Ground floor windows have glazing bars and margin lights with sills on corbels.

The public entrance is reached by steps with a tiled upper step, leading to panelled and carved double doors marked with 'VR' carved on the upper part. These are set within a Doric porch of four pillars with a frieze of triglyphs and metopes, cornice with triglyphs and metopes, and a coat of arms above.

To the western end, a curved apse houses the principal public staircase, with banded rustication to the ground floor and a tall, round-arched multi-pane staircase window, curved on section, with tooled architrave. The western return has two storeys and basement with five first floor windows. Ground floor windows have sills on carved corbels. First floor windows have architraves with aprons, frieze, and shallow pediments. The rear portion breaks forward with a curved corner and surmounting balustrade.

The judges' entrance is located to the right, via an eight-panelled door in a tooled architrave.

Interior Features

The interior retains many original features. The narrow, open-well judges' staircase has paired fluted iron balusters and wreaths between. The stone public staircase rises to the apse, with a landing topped by a dentil cornice, a ceiling frieze with fleurons, and a central rose. A round-arched arcade at the top of the stairs features a central column and heavy, square section balustrade. Doors throughout are six-panelled with tooled architraves.

The purpose-built court room on the first floor is divided into two parts. The bench has panelling to dado with Corinthian pilasters and crowns. The recess to the rear has Doric pilasters and lion masks with swags to the sides, a frieze with swags over, and central arms in a cartouche. A deep dentil frieze extends around the whole room, with a modillion acanthus cornice to the court end. The court end is top lit and features 'VR' in the frieze around the upper stage. At the public end are two pairs of Composite columns with masks, and similar pilasters to responds. The door architrave has a frieze and pediment with acroteria.

The judges' room and jury room retain moulded cornices and marble fireplaces.

Subsidiary Features

Spearhead railings with stanchions surmounted by lions run from a single tall pier. The pier is rectangular on plan with frieze and cornice, and stands over a ramped, coped wall.

Historical Context

County Courts were established following legislation in 1846 to provide a national system for the recovery of small debts, derived from the earlier Courts of Request or Courts of Conscience established from around 1700. The country was divided into sixty districts, each with a judge who was an experienced barrister. Courts initially heard claims worth up to £20, with juries comprising five individuals whose verdicts had to be unanimous. Each court employed a clerk, court servants, and at least one high bailiff. A treasurer was authorised to build, purchase or hire buildings for the court as needed.

Thomas Charles Sorby held the post of Surveyor of County Courts from 1866 until the post was abolished in 1870, succeeding Charles Reeves. Cheltenham County Court reflects the established style and layout of county courts developed during this period.

In 1888, the County Court Act increased jury size from five to eight members, making Cheltenham's jury box insufficient. Rather than undertake invasive alterations, the solution was to swap the positions of the jury and press boxes.

The building remained in use as a county court until the early 21st century. Partitions were introduced to the principal ground floor clerks' room in the late 20th century, but the court room itself largely remained unaltered and undivided, which is unusual for a building of this date.