Spalding Sessions House is a judicial structure in the Sheep Market in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. The structure, which used to be the main courthouse for the south of Parts of Holland, is a Grade II listed building.[1]
| Spalding Sessions House | |
|---|---|
 Spalding Sessions House | |
| Location | Sheep Market, Spalding |
| Coordinates | 52°47′12″N 0°09′15″W / 52.7867°N 0.1541°W |
| Built | 1843 |
| Architect | Charles Kirk |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic revival style |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Spalding Sessions House |
| Designated | 20 November 1975 |
| Reference no. | 1063960 |
  Shown in Lincolnshire | |
History
editThe first venue for the quarter sessions in Spalding was the old Town Hall in the triangular open space in Hall Place, which was commissioned by John Hobson, and dated back to about 1620.[2][3][4] However, in the 1830s, the justices complained that the town hall was too small for them and it was agreed to commission a new sessions house. The site they selected in the Sheep Market was adjacent to a new prison which had been erected in 1825 to replace an earlier House of Correction in Broad Street which had dated from 1619.[5]
The new sessions house was designed by Charles Kirk from Sleaford, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £6,000 and was officially opened on 30 June 1843.[6][7] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto the Sheep Market. The central section of three bays featured an arched doorway flanked by two bi-partite mullioned and transomed windows, all with traceried panels above; on the first floor there was a large tri-partite mullioned and transomed window flanked by two bi-partite mullioned and transomed windows. The bays were separated by buttresses surmounted by statues of lions and, at roof level, there was a crenelated parapet which was decorated by a panel bearing the Royal coat of arms. The end bays, which were projected forward, took the form of three-stage towers with doorways in the first stage, oriel windows in the second stage and pairs of narrow windows in the third stage; the towers were also surmounted by crenelated parapets. Internally, the principal rooms were the courtroom as well as a series of prison cells on the ground floor.[5]
The building continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, in 2012, the building was declared no longer fit for purpose and magistrates court hearings were transferred to Boston.[7] In 2016, food production specialists, Oliver and Dorota Sneath, acquired the building and initiated works to convert the sessions house into a mix of residential accommodation and leisure space.[8][9][10] The building was licensed for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies in 2018.[11]
See also
edit- Boston Sessions House (built to a very similar design)
References
edit- ^ Historic England. "Spalding Sessions House (1063960)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ Britton, John (1807). Beauties of England and Wales. Vol. 9. Vernor, Hood and Sharpe. p. 743.
- ^ Honeybone, Diana; Honeybone, Michael (2010). The Correspondence of the Spalding Gentlemen's Society, 1710–1761. The Boydell Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-0901503879.
- ^ The Edinburgh Gazetteer. Vol. 5. 1822. p. 710.
- ^ a b Gray, David. "Spalding Prison" (PDF). Heritage South Holland. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ "Spalding Conservation Area Appraisal" (PDF). South Holland District Council. 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Sessions House, Spalding". Lincolnshire Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ "Couple hope to make former Spalding courthouse their home". The Spalding and South Holland Voice. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ "Home to Hospitality". Lincolnshire Life. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ "Spalding Sessions House is now up for sale for £1 million". Spalding Today. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ "Former Spalding Magistrates Court is now reborn as The Sessions House". Spalding Today. 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2023.