The Court House

The Court House, the first public building in Wood Street, was built for Yorkshire’s West Riding magistrates. The land for the Court House, which would be to a design by Charles Watson, architect of the St John’s garden suburb, was purchased in 1806 and the building open for the Quarter Sessions of 1810; it is speculated that the completion of the building was delayed due to lack of suitable stone for the columns. The Court House was extended in 1849-50 and again in the 1880’s.

The Quarter Sessions, held 4 times each year, mainly dealt with property crimes such as theft, but the Court House was the only large covered meeting place in Wakefield and so was used for many public meetings. Later, the Crown Court for more serious crimes was held here.

After the building closed, in 1992, it was sold in 1994 by the Department of Justice to a developer with plans to convert the property to entertainment use. However, no work beyond stripping the interior was undertaken, resulting in the deterioration of the building becoming such a serious concern such that it was placed on English Heritage’s (now Historic England) ‘Heritage at Risk’ register. Wakefield Council then stepped in to acquire the building and make it waterproof and weather-tight.