Edwardian Magistrates Court, England

This Edwardian Magistrates Court was built around 1900, in an Edwardian Baroque architectural style. This building is Grade II listed, and is currently up for sale for just over £1m. The magistrates courts closed sometime before 2000, and the police station closed and relocated to newer premises a few years later. The building has been left to decay ever since, awaiting a new owner to re-purpose it.

This two story building also features an attached police station, complete with various offices and other empty rooms. The second court room has been modernised, removing all of the original details and replacing them with uninteresting modern decor.

This courtroom retains many of the original 20th Century features and fittings. Above the magistrates bench the original heraldic shield stands prominently above the doorway. Judges would have entered here when the courts were in session. The coved ceiling is decorated with plaster work, two matched stained glass skylights and a central ceiling rose. The bright orange paintwork is peeling, and the plasterwork crumbling or falling off in large chunks. Lumps of the decorative ceiling pieces litter the floor and benches.

In the centre of the Edwardian Magistrates Court, is the wooden panel dock where the defendant would stand. A stairway inside the dock was used to transfer the defendant between the court, and the four basement cells. These cells are small and dark, and would have been used to temporarily hold the accused in the hours before their trial.