Sheriff Court
The building in 2013
General information
TypeSheriff court
Architectural styleGreek Revival style
AddressTay Street
Perth, Perth and Kinross
CountryScotland
Coordinates56°23′41″N 3°25′33″W / 56.394663°N 3.4259512°W / 56.394663; -3.4259512
Completed1819 (1819)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Sir Robert Smirke
Other information
Public transit accessNational Rail Perth
Website
www.scotcourts.gov.uk/the-courts/court-locations/perth-sheriff-court-and-justice-of-the-peace-court
Listed Building – Category A
Official namePerth Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, Tay Street, Perth
Designated20 May 1965
Reference no.LB39325

Perth Sheriff Court is an historic building on Tay Street in Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The structure, which is used as the main courthouse for the area, is a Category A listed building.[1]

History

Originally, court hearings in Perthshire were held in a tolbooth in the High Street which dated back at least to the 15th century.[2][3] The Parliament of Scotland met in the tolbooth in 1604 and 1606,[4] and many prisoners were incarcerated there by the Duke of Cumberland in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745.[5] In the early 19th century it became necessary to commission a dedicated courthouse: the site the sheriff selected was occupied by Gowrie House, the location for the Gowrie Conspiracy, which surrounded an attempt on the life of King James VI in 1600. Gowrie House is acknowledged with a bronze panel by Sir John Steell on the south wall of the new building.[6]

The new building was designed by Sir Robert Smirke in the Greek Revival style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £32,000 and was completed in 1819.[1][7] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of thirteen bays facing Tay Street. The central section of seven bays featured an octostyle portico formed by a colonnade of ten fluted Doric order columns supporting an entablature, a frieze and a pediment. The outer sections of three bays each were fenestrated by sash windows with architraves and cornices.[1] Internally, the principal room was the justiciary hall on the first floor at the back of the building and the Sheriff's Court and Sheriff's clerk's office in the north wing.[8]

Following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which established county councils in every county, the new county leaders needed to identify offices for Perthshire County Council.[9] A council chamber was established, for this purpose, in the south wing of the building.[8] After the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, the administration of the county of Perthshire and of the neighbouring county of Kinross-shire were combined under a joint council based at the former hospital building in York Place which became known as the "County Offices".[10] The building in Tay Street then reverted to being used solely for judicial purposes, with the south wing being re-modelled as offices for the court.[6] The courtrooms continued to be used for hearings of the sheriff's court and for hearings of the justice of the peace court.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Historic Environment Scotland. "Perth Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, Tay Street, Perth (LB39325)". Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "Assembly Places". Perth and Kinross Archaeological Research Framework. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  3. ↑ Cowan, Samuel (1904). "The Story of Perth from the Invasion of Agricola to the Passing of the Reform Bill, Chapter 11". Simpkin, Marshall & Co.
  4. ↑ MacDonald, Alan R. (2016). The Burghs and Parliament in Scotland, C. 1550–1651. Taylor and Francis. p. 175. ISBN 978-1317039693.
  5. ↑ Farquhar, George Taylor Shillito (1894). The Episcopal History of Perth, 1689-1894. J.H. Jackson. p. 176.
  6. 1 2 "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland". 1901. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  7. ↑ Glendinning, Miles (2019). History of Scottish Architecture. Edinburgh University Press. p. 595. ISBN 978-1474468503.
  8. 1 2 Penny, George (1836). Traditions of Perth, containing sketches of the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and notices of public occurrences, during the last century etc. Dewar, Sidey, Morison, Peat, and Drummond. p. 313.
  9. ↑ Shennan, Hay (1892). Boundaries of Counties and Parishes in Scotland: as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889. Edinburgh: William Green & Sons – via Internet Archive.
  10. ↑ "Perth & Kinross Council Archive Collections County records" (PDF). Perth and Kinross County Council. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "Perth Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court". Scottish Courts & Tribunals. Retrieved 5 December 2022.


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