Shire Hall, Stafford
LocationStafford, Staffordshire
Coordinates52°48′26″N 2°07′00″W / 52.8073°N 2.1167°W / 52.8073; -2.1167
Built1798
ArchitectJohn Harvey
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated16 January 1951
Reference no.1298177
Shire Hall, Stafford is located in Staffordshire
Shire Hall, Stafford
Location of Shire Hall, Stafford in Staffordshire

The Shire Hall is a public building in Stafford, England, completed in 1798 to a design by John Harvey.[1][2] Formerly a courthouse, it housed an art gallery which closed to the public in July 2017.[3][4] The court rooms and cells are preserved.[1] The building, its interiors, and the associated street furniture were grade II* listed on 17 December 1971,[2] when it was described as "One of the finest public buildings in Stafford".[2]

Earlier buildings

The current building is the third of similar function on the site.[1] The county court met in Stafford as early as 1176.[1] A shire hall, home to the county court and other civic functions, stood on the north side of what is now Market Square in the 1280s.[1] In the 1580s, the decision was made to rebuild the shire hall, on a new site,[1] but this was not completed until 1607, probably due to difficulties raising the money needed.[1] By 1793, it had been decided, due to the building’s poor condition caused by inadequate maintenance, that a new building was needed,[1] and the Stafford Shire Hall Act 1794 was passed by Parliament.[5]

Architecture

Designs were submitted by Samuel Wyatt, then working at nearby Shugborough Hall, and by John Nash, but the one chosen was by John Harvey - his only significant building.[1] Harvey had worked as Wyatt's assistant or pupil,[2] and Wyatt is believed to have been involved in the final Neoclassical style design.[1][2]

Building began in 1795, and the hall was completed in 1798.[1][2] The hall has nine ashlar bays[2] above a rusticated ground floor.[2] The portico has an architrave and pediment, supported by four Doric columns.[1] Figures of Justice and Mercy, by John Rossi and his partner John Bingley, recline on the pediment.[1] A clock was placed between them in 1799, instead of the planned figure of Britannia from Harvery's original design.[1] Also abandoned was Wyatt's proposal to include judges' living accommodation.[1]

Interior

Immediately behind the facade is the Great Hall, 72 by 32 by 39 feet (22 m × 10 m × 12 m), with three galleries.[1] Beyond this are the two courtrooms: Court 1 (now open to the public, with displays of museum artefacts related to crime and policing) for the High Court and Court 2, the magistrates' court.[1] The latter has many original fittings, but the former was enlarged by the county surveyor, Charles Trubshaw, and refitted by local joiner Thomas Bull, in 1854.[1]

The 1854 remodelling extended the building over a market for dairy produce, The Butter Market. As a result, a new market hall was built nearby, across the market square.[1] The basement included a guard room (holding cell) for prisoners, and the Mayor of Stafford's office.[1] In 1947, one of the courtrooms was used in the filming of Blanche Fury, starring Stewart Granger.[1]

Judges

The memorial to Thomas Noon Talfourd

John Sparrow was Chairman of Stafford Quarter Sessions when the new building opened. His portrait, by William Owen, is in Court 2.[1] Another judge, Thomas Noon Talfourd, collapsed and died while in the court. He is commemorated by a bust, sculpted by John Graham Lough, in Court 1.[1]

Trials

Among those tried at the Shire Hall were the forger William Booth, who was convicted before Simon Le Blanc and hanged outside Stafford Gaol in 1812.[6][7] The trial in the case of the murder of Christina Collins was held there in July 1839: Colin Dexter based his eighth Inspector Morse novel, The Wench Is Dead on the case.[6] In 1923, George Stagg was convicted of the murder by shooting of Aston Villa footballer Tommy Ball. His death sentence was commuted, and he died in 1966 in a mental hospital in Birmingham.[8][9] In 1970, Raymond Leslie Morris was convicted of the Cannock Chase murders in the Shire Hall[6] and, in 1979, the spree killer, Barry Williams, was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility there.[10]

The Shire Hall continued to be used as a criminal court until the Stafford Combined Court Centre in Victoria Square opened in 1991.[1] Staffordshire County Council decided to renovate and adapt it, completing the work in 1993 with some funding by English Heritage.[1] The Great Hall became an art gallery, featuring visiting exhibitions and temporary displays of material from the Staffordshire County Museum collection,[1] and occasionally part of the Staffordshire Hoard.[11] The former courtyard was glazed over and is now part of a suite of council offices, including the former Grand Jury Room which retains part of its 18th-century dado.[1] The gallery closed in July 2017.[12] The building continues to be used for one-off events and various options for future use have been submitted to the county council for consideration.[13][14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Anon. The Shire Hall Gallery Guide. Staffordshire County Council.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Historic England. "Shire Hall and Attached Railings, Gates and Lamp Standards, Stafford (1298177)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  3. ↑ "Shire Hall Gallery". Staffordshire County Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "The Shire Hall Gallery". Art UK. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "An Act for Building a New Shire Hall for the County of Stafford, 1794". The Sutherland Collection. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Anon (2009). Crime and Punishment in Staffordshire. Staffordshire Arts and Museum Service.
  7. ↑ "William Booth by an unknown artist". Digital Handsworth. Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  8. ↑ Spink, Derrick (4 August 2010). "Villa History – Murder Most Foul". heroesandvillains.net. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  9. ↑ Cowan, Mark (6 May 2010). "The star Villa player shot dead by neighbour". Birmingham Mail. From the archives. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "Gunman who shot 5 sent to Broadmoor". The Glasgow Herald. 27 March 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "Staffordshire horde descend on Westminster". Staffordshire Hoard. 5 July 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  12. ↑ "Farewell vigil as Stafford's Shire Hall locked up". Express and Star. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  13. ↑ "Ideas still welcome for the future of Stafford's Shire Hall". Stoke Sentinel. 4 October 2017.
  14. ↑ "Stafford's iconic Shire Hall could be brought back to life". Express and Star. 21 May 2019.
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