County Hall, Coventry

County Hall is a historic former courthouse in Cuckoo Lane in Coventry's Cathedral Quarter. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

County Hall, Coventry
County Hall on Cuckoo Lane is now a bar
LocationCuckoo Lane, Coventry
Coordinates52.4080°N 1.5086°W / 52.4080; -1.5086
Built1783
ArchitectSamuel Eglinton
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameCounty Hall, Coventry
Designated24 June 1974
Reference no.1076642
County Hall, Coventry is located in West Midlands county
County Hall, Coventry
Shown in the West Midlands

History
The interior of the bar, showing the preserved aspects of the courthouse.

The archaeologist, John Russell, has suggested that the site might have previously been occupied by a medieval guildhall, which would have operated independently of St Mary's Guildhall.[2]

The current building was designed by Samuel Eglinton in the neo-classical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1783.[3] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Cuckoo Lane. The ground floor was rusticated, while the first floor was fenestrated with sash windows with architraves and cornices. The central section of three bays, which was slightly projected forward, featured a tetrastyle portico on the first floor. The portico was formed by Doric order columns supporting an entablature, a cornice and a pediment. Internally, the principal room was the main courtroom.[1]

Land adjacent to the building was used as a gaol and a prison governor's house was attached to the building.[4][5] The courthouse was used as the venue for the assizes in Coventry from 1843,[6] although Coventry ceased to be a county in its own right under the Boundary Act 1847.[3]

Notable cases included the trial and conviction of Mary Ball, in 1849, for poisoning her husband. She was hanged outside the court – the last person to be hanged there – in the presence of over 20,000 spectators.[7][8][9]

The courts moved to the Coventry Combined Court Centre on Much Park Street in 1988[10] and the building subsequently lay empty until it was bought for use as a bar in 2000.[2] The interior was redesigned although aspects of the courthouse such as the judge's chair and public gallery were left untouched.[11][12]

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to County Hall, Coventry.

References
  1. Historic England. "County Hall, Coventry (1076642)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  2. "Dig For History, Urges Enthusiast". Coventry news. 14 August 2000. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  3. "Order! Bar opens in Coventry's old court house and jail". Coventry Telegraph. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  4. "Heritage and history". Coventry Society. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  5. "County Court, Cuckoo Lane". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  6. Stephens, W. B. (1969). "'The borough of Warwick: Introduction, the county town', in A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8, the City of Coventry and Borough of Warwick". London: British History Online. pp. 447–451. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  7. Goulden, Barbara (15 January 2000). "Old jail will have clink of glasses". Coventry Evening Telegraph.
  8. "The day 20,000 watched Mary Ball hang; History: This week, a notorious hanging was re-enacted. A huge audience witnessed the original event". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 14 September 2005. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  9. "Mary Ball – Coventry's last hanging". Capital Punishment. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  10. Mulcahy, Linda; Rowden, Emma (2019). The Democratic Courthouse: A Modern History of Design, Due Process and Dignity. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-0429558689.
  11. "Coventry County Hall: Former court house". Our Warwickshire. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  12. "Buildings no longer at risk: County Hall". The Coventry Society. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
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