Pevensey Court House
Pevensey Court House
LocationHigh Street, Pevensey
Coordinates50°49′12″N 0°20′11″E / 50.8201°N 0.3364°E / 50.8201; 0.3364
Built1540
Architectural style(s)Medieval style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameThe Court House and Wallby
Designated30 August 1966
Reference no.1182588
Pevensey Court House is located in East Sussex
Pevensey Court House
Shown in East Sussex

Pevensey Court House, formerly known as Pevensey Town Hall,[1][2] is a municipal building in the High Street, Pevensey, East Sussex, England. The structure, which currently accommodates a local history museum, is a Grade II listed building.[3]

History

The current building, which was commissioned to replace a 14th-century court house,[4] was designed in the medieval style, built in rubble masonry and was completed in around 1540.[5] It was then extended, with the construction of a north facing wing and the installation of a porch at the top of the external staircase, in 1830. A cement render finish was added at that time as well.[6][7][8]

The design of the enlarged building involved a main block which was orientated east to west together with a north facing wing. It featured an external staircase on the eastern side leading up to a porch on the first floor. The building was fenestrated by a prominent oriel window on the first floor at the end of the north facing wing, and by a casement window on the right-hand side of the main block, also facing north. The north facing wing was gabled and the main block was covered by a hipped roof. Internally, the principal rooms were a lock-up for incarcerating petty criminals on the ground floor,[9][10] and a courtroom, which was 18 feet (5.5 m) long and 14 feet (4.3 m) wide, as well as a robing room, on the first floor.[6]

The borough council, which had met in the council chamber, was abolished under the Municipal Corporations Act 1883,[11] and the assets of the borough, including the building, were transferred to the newly formed Pevensey Town Trust in 1890.[12][13]

One of the last people to be incarcerated in the prison cells was Betty Breach, who was found guilty of assaulting her drunken husband in 1887: after local protests, the magistrate who had sentenced Breach, apologised and released her.[14] The building was used to imprison a captured German airman and was also used as a mortuary during the Second World War.[6]

The court house subsequently served as a museum.[6] Exhibits accessioned to the collection included the seals of the borough which dated to around 1230, the official weights and measures of the borough, and a replica of a scene from the Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the landing of William the Conqueror at Pevensey in 1066, which was hand-embroidered in the 1980s.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Sussex archaeological collections relating to the history and antiquities of the county. Vol. 40. Farncombe and Company. 1896. p. 279.
  2. ↑ "Town Hall, Pevensey". Grenville Godfrey. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "The Court House and Wallby (1182588)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Pevensey". Visit South East England. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Locke, Tim (2011). Slow Sussex and South Downs National Park. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 232. ISBN 978-1841623436.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Tour". Pevensey Court House. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  7. ↑ "Pevensey Gaol". Prison History. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "Welcome". Pevensey Court House Museum. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  9. ↑ Winbolt, W. E. (1928). Sussex. G. Bell & Sons. p. 44.
  10. ↑ "The Most Unusual Experiences in Eastbourne, England". Culture Trip. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  11. ↑ Municipal Corporations Act 1883 (46 & 46 Vict. Ch. 18) (PDF). 1883. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  12. ↑ "Pevensey Historic Character Assessment Report" (PDF). West Sussex County Council. 1 March 2008. p. 20. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  13. ↑ Sacret, G. C. (1981). The Court House, Pevensey, Once the Smallest Town Hall in England. Pevensey Town Trust. p. 8.
  14. ↑ "Pevensey". Sussex Villages. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  15. ↑ "Battle for Bayeux Tapestry: 'Don't forget Pevensey again'". The Argus. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
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