The Historic Court Room
Completed in 1798, Stafford's Shire Hall was home to the County Assizes, or criminal courts until 1991. The current building is at least the third of Stafford's Shire Halls: a building is first mentioned in records as early as the 1280s. Little is known about this structure although it is thought to have stood at the corner of Market Square and Greengate Street.
As the most important official building in the town in the Middle Ages, the Shire Hall was home to the county court, to the county's Justices of the Peace, and to judges on tour from Westminster.
Beside their judicial role, Justices of the Peace also became the main agents for local government in the county. They dealt with a wide range of matters, including the care of the highways and bridges, regulation of working conditions, supervision of the Poor Law system, and licensing of ale houses and non-Anglican places of worship. The justices retained most of these powers until the establishment of County Councils in 1889. Until this date, the Shire Hall was in effect the headquarters of local government in the county.
In 1587, it was replaced by a new hall after Queen Elizabeth I pledged to end recession in the town by restoring the Assizes, which had moved to Wolverhampton The second hall seems not to have been well maintained and by 1793 it was said to be "an ancient building in a very ruinous and dangerous state, and inconvenient for public purposes."
Stafford's Justices held a competition to find a design for the new hall. John Harvey's design won. It consisted of a Great Hall and two courtrooms as well as holding cells, waiting rooms, and rooms for the Grand Jury and the Judges. The new market square at the front provided space for a meat market, and a covered area at the back housed a dairy market.
Inside the most striking feature is the Great Hall, an entrance hall 72 feet long, 32 feet wide and 39 feet high. There are galleries on three sides, each with balconies and columns leading to the richly decorated ceiling. The Great Hall was designed as the town's main indoor space for social events: public meetings, elections, dances, theatrical performances, and civic events. In January 1832, Paganini performed at the Shire Hall to a half full auditorium during his six and a half year tour of Europe.
Although the new building was described as 'spacious and elegant', it was a common complaint that the courts were too small. In 1854, the dairy market was relocated and Court One extended.
In Court One, there is a marble bust of Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd, a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, who collapsed and died while addressing the Grand Jury in March 1854.
View a 360 degree photo of the courtroom from the dock| (Quicktime application)
View a 360 degree photo of the courtroom from the balcony| (Quicktime application)
Images created by Dan McCarthy. (Download Quicktime|)
Among the most celebrated trials heard at Stafford was that of the murder of Christina Collins, killed in 1839 by the side of the Trent and Mersey canal at Rugeley, and the inspiration for Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse novel 'The Wench is Dead'.
Executions took place at the County Gaol but not all convicted murderers were executed: Richard Harvey, found not guilty of manslaughter in 1842, escaped with a mere six weeks' imprisonment because his victim had been his opponent in a well-matched and fairly-conducted prize-fight. Leniency was also extended to the organisers of a trade union of female button makers, established in 1834 near Flash in the north of the county. Despite being tried by John Williams, the same judge who earlier in the year had sentenced the Tolpuddle Martyrs to transportation, the Staffordshire union leaders were merely lectured and then released.
The last case heard in Court One concluded on Thursday 25th July 1991. The Courts moved to new premises in Victoria Square and the Shire Hall was renovated and the cobbled courtyard surrounded by holding cells was roofed over. The Shire Hall Gallery opened in the Great Hall in 1993 and Stafford Library moved into the newly covered courtyard in 1998.
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Court 1, the Foyer Exhibition and the Holding Cell are open daily until 4.00pm.
They are occasionally booked for functions or as film locations so it is always best to check with Shire Hall Gallery reception before arranging a visit.
Call us on 01785 278345.
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Click here to read about life inside Stafford Gaol|||
A full history and guide, 'Crime and Punishment in Staffordshire' is available from the Gallery Craft Shop.
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