Royal Courts of Justice

History {{anchor|Courts of Justice Building Act 1865|Courts of Justice Concentration (Site) Act 1865}}

| use_new_UK-LEG = | UK-LEG_title = | use_new_UK-LEG = | UK-LEG_title = For centuries these courts were located in Westminster Hall; however, in the 19th century, justices decided the courts needed a purpose-built structure. Much of the preparatory legal work was completed by Edwin Wilkins Field including promotion of the Courts of Justice Building Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 48) and the Courts of Justice Concentration (Site) Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 49). A statue of Field stands in the building.

The search for a design for the Law Courts was by way of a competition, a then-common approach to selecting a design and an architect. The competition ran from 1866 to 1867 and the twelve architects competing for the contract each submitted designs for the site. In 1868 it was finally decided that George Edmund Street was the winner. Building was started in 1873 by Messrs Bull & Sons of Southampton. Its masons led a serious strike at an early stage which threatened to extend to the other trades and caused a temporary stoppage of the works. In consequence, foreign workmen were brought in – mostly Germans. This aroused bitter hostility on the part of the men on strike, and the newcomers had to be housed and fed within the building. However, these disputes were eventually settled and the building took eight years to complete; it was officially opened by Queen Victoria on 4 December 1882.

Street died before the building was opened, overcome by the work. The building was paid for by cash accumulated in court from the estates of the intestate to the sum of £700,000. Oak work and fittings in the court cost a further £70,000 and with decoration and furnishing the total cost for the building came to under £1 million.

The building was extended to the designs of Sir Henry Tanner to create the West Green building completed in 1912. The Queen's Building followed in 1968 and the Thomas More Courts were completed in January 1990.

The building was used as a "Nightingale Court" for criminal trials during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

On 8 September 2025, a mural by Banksy was discovered. The mural depicted a judge using a gavel to beat a protester holding a placard. Banksy took credit for the art piece on social media later the same day. The mural was then covered up and guarded by security staff before being removed.

Architecture

The design involves a symmetrical main frontage of facing The Strand; the central section, which is stepped back, features an arched doorway leading to the Great Hall; it has a five-part window in a carved surround on the first floor and a gable containing a rose window above. There are towers containing lancet windows on either side of the central section with side wings beyond.

Internally, courts are arranged off the Great Hall which runs north–south; there is a courtyard to the east with offices for courtroom staff arranged round the courtyard.

Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner has described the building as "an object lesson in free composition, with none of the symmetry of the classics, yet not undisciplined where symmetry is abandoned". David Brownlee has claimed that it was influenced by the reformist political movement and the High Victorian architectural movement and has described it as a "regular mongrel affair" while Turnor described it as the "last great secular building of the Gothic Revival".

The Government Art Collection contains a painting by Henry Tanworth Wells depicting Queen Victoria opening the building in 1882.

Gallery

Royal Courts of Justice (6201094569).jpg|The Great Hall Royal Courts of Justice Quadrangle September 2023.jpg|North face of the quadrangle

References

Sources

• {{cite book| last = Harper| first = Roger H.| year = 1983| title = Victorian Architectural Competitions: An Index to British and Irish Architectural Competitions in The Builder, 1843–1900 | publisher = Mansell Publishing Limited

References

1. {{NHLE
2. "Royal Courts of Justice visitors guide". [[HM Courts Service]].
3. "Main (or Great) Hall". The Victoria Web.
4. "Nosing around the Royal Courts of Justice". Chambers Student Guide 2011.
5. Kirk, Tristan. (11 January 2021). "New 'Nightingale' courts open in High Court in Covid response".
6. "Royal Courts of Justice, London".
7. "Banksy mural scrubbed from Royal Courts of Justice".
8. (15 May 2023). "Traditions of the future | Ofir Haivry".
9. "Royal Courts of Justice | building, London, United Kingdom".
10. (2003). "London 6: Westminster". Yale University Press.
11. (12 July 2016). "That 'regular mongrel affair': G. G. Scott's design for the government offices". Cambridge University Press.
12. Turnor, Reginald. (1950). "Nineteenth Century Architecture in Britain". Batsford.
13. Wells, Henry Tanworth. "Queen Victoria Opening of the Royal Courts of Justice, 1882". Art UK.