Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court
| Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court | |
|---|---|
 The building in 2017 | |
| Location | Whytescauseway, Kirkcaldy |
| Coordinates | 56°06′33″N 3°09′47″W / 56.1093°N 3.1631°W |
| Built | 1894 |
| Architect | James Ross Gillespie |
| Architectural style(s) | Scottish baronial style |
Listed Building – Category B | |
| Official name | Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court including boundary wall and excluding large extension to east, Whytescauseway, Kirkcaldy |
| Designated | 27 February 1997 |
| Reference no. | LB44108 |
  Shown in Fife | |
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, formerly known as County Buildings, is a judicial building on Whytescauseway in Kirkcaldy in Scotland. The building, which continues to operate a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.[1]
History
[edit]Until the late 19th century, court hearings were held in the old townhouse and jail at the junction of High Street and Tolbooth Street which was completed in 1826.[2] After finding this arrangement unsatisfactory, court officials decided to commission a dedicated courthouse: the site they selected was on the south side of Whytescauseway.[3]
The new building was designed by James Ross Gillespie in the Scottish baronial style, built in rubble masonry at a cost of £9,000 and was officially opened by Sheriff Aeneas Mackay on 21 May 1894.[4][5] After it opened, it was initially known as "County Buildings".[6]
The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Whytescauseway. The centre bay featured a three-stage tower: there was a round headed doorway with voussoirs and a keystone in the first stage, a mullioned and transomed window in the second stage and a mullioned window with a Diocletian window above in the third stage, all surmounted by a balustrade. To the right of the centre bay there was a four-stage octagonal turret, which was projected forward from the upper floors of the building: there a small casement window in the first stage, a series of lancet windows in the second stage, blind walls with corner colonettes in the third stage, and a series of small windows in the fourth stage, all surmounted by a conical roof and a weather vane. The left-hand bay, which was hexagon-shaped, was fenestrated by sash windows on both floors and surmounted by a pediment with a hexagon-shaped roof behind. The right-hand bay was fenestrated by a pair of sash windows on the ground floor and by a nine-pane window on the first floor, all surmounted by a stepped gable and a finial. Internally, the principal room was a double-height courtroom on the first floor, behind the nine-pane window.[7]
A large extension, with a blind canted wall on the left, a round headed doorway in the centre and a full-height round headed atrium to the right, was added to the east of the main building in 1982.[8][9] An annexe to the sheriff court, incorporating two new criminal courtrooms as well as a new custody suite, was opened in the former police station on St. Brycedale Avenue on 29 July 2020.[10] The building on Whytescauseway remains the main venue for hearings of the Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.[11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court including boundary wall and excluding large extension to east, Whytescauseway, Kirkcaldy (Category B Listed Building) (LB44108)". Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ "How Kirkcaldy Town House celebrated its 50th anniversary". Fife Today. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ "Ordnance Survey Six-inch 1st edition, 1843–1882". Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ Opening of the new courthouse at Kirkcaldy. The Scots Law Times. 2 June 1894. p. 38. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ Glendinning, Miles (2019). History of Scottish Architecture. Edinburgh University Press. p. 569. ISBN 978-1474468503.
- ^ Glen, Duncan (2005). Kirkcaldy A Photographic Guide and Introduction to the History of the Town. Akros. p. 69. ISBN 978-0861421589.
In 1894 the Sheriff Court building was known as the County Buildings and cost about £9,000. The architect was James Gillespie…
- ^ Robson, Peter; Rodger, Johnny (2017). The Spaces of Justice The Architecture of the Scottish Court. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-1683930891.
- ^ "Plans for Kirkcaldy court move revealed". The Courier. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ "Courtroom drama as jury seats collapse during child sex abuse trial in Fife". The Courier. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ "Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court Annex". Doors Open Days 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ "Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court". Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. Retrieved 28 September 2024.