History

Archaeology

Long before the earliest courthouse was built here, the site was occupied by Westminster Abbey’s Sanctuary Tower and Old Belfry, where fugitives could seek refuge from their pursuers on Thorney Island. Thorney Island or 'The Island of Briars' as it was also known was a slightly elevated area of land at the junction of the river Tyburn and the Thames. The Tyburn was culverted over and is now one of London’s subterranean rivers.

The site lies within the Lundenwic and Thorney Island Area of Special Archaeological Priority, as defined in the City of Westminster Unitary Development Plan. A desk-based Archaeological Assessment from the Museum of London Archaeological Service (MoLAS), commissioned by HM Court Service and published in March 2005, describes the site as having been subject to continuous development from at least the medieval period onwards as part of the Westminster Abbey precinct.

Pre-Conquest, Medieval History, and the First Guildhall

Although the county of Middlesex exists now purely as a ceremonial county, the boundaries of the historic county were extensive. These boundaries extended from Hertfordshire in the west, along the River Thames, to the borders of Essex and the City of London. This territory also contained the separate jurisdiction of the Liberty of Westminster (an autonomous jurisdiction around Westminster Abbey).

These borders, and the name ‘Middlesex’ reflected the territory’s links to the ‘middle Saxons’ (a province within the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of the East Saxons, later Essex). Additionally, the county’s flag (three seaxes, or Saxon swords, beneath a Saxon crown on a red background) highlights further Anglo-Saxon links to the county.

The site of the Guildhall previously housed the Sanctuary Tower and Old Belfry of Westminster Abbey. Within these boundaries, fugitives and those seeking political sanctuary could find refuge. Today, the roads adjacent to the Court are called ‘Broad Sanctuary’ and ‘Little Sanctuary,’ reflecting this chapter of the area’s past.

A monastery associated with the Abbey would also be developed on this site, although this would be demolished during Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries in the late 1530s. The site would then become home to a tavern, known as the ‘Three Tunns.’

Towards the end of the 18th century, this tavern would be demolished. Sir Hugh Percy the 1st Duke of Northumberland, the Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex, would commission the construction of a guildhall, with a foundation stone laid in 1779 and construction completed in 1808. This would be the first of three guildhalls to exist on the site.

Westminster Sessions House and the second Middlesex Guildhall

The first guildhall, referred to as Westminster Sessions House, housed the sessions for the Justices of the Peace for the Liberty of Westminster. The jurisdiction of these Justices would be limited in the 1840s and they would be absorbed into the Middlesex Quarter Sessions in 1844.

The Local Government Act of 1888 would redefine the boundaries of Middlesex and transfer many of the previous administrative functions of the Justices of the Peace to newly-created elected county councils.

The Act would also lead to the creation of the County of London. This newly created authority would include areas previously belonging to Kent, Surrey, and Middlesex. Although the guildhall, now home to the Middlesex Quarter Sessions, would fall outside the borders of the reconstituted County of Middlesex, it was considered inappropriate to move them.

The guildhall now housed Middlesex County Council and the Quarter Sessions, but the 1808 building was considered to be an inadequate size. The building underwent a significant renovation in 1892, with work carried out by architect F. H. Pownall. The exterior design of the second guildhall was similar to the building used by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (which sits adjacent to the UK Supreme Court today).

The Third Guildhall

By the early 20th century, the second guildhall was increasingly considered to be too small a site for the Middlesex County Council and Quarter Sessions. The second guildhall was demolished, and work began on a third.

James S. Gibson was the principal architect behind the design of the current building, with much of the building’s decorative stonework being designed and created by Henry Fehr and Carlo Magnoni. Gibson had previously worked on the West Riding (of Yorkshire) County Hall and the Arding and Hobbs department store in Battersea. The Middlesex Guildhall would be formally opened by Prince Arthur of Connaught on 19th December 1913.

The Guildhall contained two courtrooms and the Council chamber. At the coronations of George VI (1936) and Elizabeth II (1953), the Guildhall was used as a relay centre for broadcasts of the ceremonies.

During the Second World War, five countries with governments-in-exile based in London were granted permission by Parliament to hold courts within the Guildhall. These courts were staffed by their own judges and primarily dealt with maritime and military offences committed by their nationals. These countries were Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland. A plaque can be found in the Court’s exhibition commemorating this period.

Crown Court

The Local Government Act of 1963 saw the abolition of the Counties of Middlesex and London and the creation of the Greater London Council (which would come into effect in 1965).

The Administration of Justice Act of 1964 would result in the abolition of the Magistracy and Lieutenancy in Middlesex.

Middlesex would cease to exist as an administrative and judicial area by 1964, and the Guildhall was converted into a Crown Court in 1971.

The Crown Court housed seven courtrooms which heard criminal cases and would undergo a refurbishment between 1982 and 1988. The Crown Court would be re-opened by Lord Mackay, the Lord Chancellor, in 1989.

Supreme Court

When the Government announced its intention to create a Supreme Court for the United Kingdom in 2003 the search began for suitable premises. The senior Law Lord at the time, Lord Bingham of Cornhill, made it clear that The Supreme Court’s eventual home would need to reflect the reasoning behind this constitutional change:

“The creation of a Supreme Court is driven by the need for transparency and clarity in our constitutional arrangements. Its setting should reflect the public right to come and see an institution which belongs to them, in action”.

The Court’s statutory basis would be outlined in Part 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005. This Act would also include significant reforms to the role of Lord Chancellor. The Supreme Court would come into existence in October 2009 and would take up residence in the former Middlesex Guildhall.

As the former Middlesex Guildhall is on Parliament Square the Supreme Court remains close to other official state buildings such as the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Treasury.

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