City Police Courts, Manchester
Encyclopedia
The City Police Courts, now commonly called Minshull Street Crown Court, is a complex of court buildings on Minshull Street in Manchester
, designed in 1867–73 by the architect Thomas Worthington
. The court is a Grade II* listed building as of 3 October 1974.
The style is Worthington's trademark flamboyant Flemish Gothic with a massive corner tower and a chinney stack styled as a campanille. The courts are constructed in red brick with sandstone dressings and steeply-pitched slate roofs. There is a profusion of animal carving by Earp and Hobbs. Worthington drew both on his rejected designs for the Town Hall, and on his earlier plans for Ellen Wilkinson High School
, although the central tower he used there is placed asymmetrically at the Police Courts, due to the constraints of the site. The interior court rooms "have been preserved with relatively few alterations."
In 1993-96, a modern extension was added to the Aytoun Street side of the courts.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, designed in 1867–73 by the architect Thomas Worthington
Thomas Worthington (architect)
Thomas Worthington was a 19th-century English architect, particularly associated with public buildings in and around Manchester.-Early life:...
. The court is a Grade II* listed building as of 3 October 1974.
The style is Worthington's trademark flamboyant Flemish Gothic with a massive corner tower and a chinney stack styled as a campanille. The courts are constructed in red brick with sandstone dressings and steeply-pitched slate roofs. There is a profusion of animal carving by Earp and Hobbs. Worthington drew both on his rejected designs for the Town Hall, and on his earlier plans for Ellen Wilkinson High School
Ellen Wilkinson High School
Ellen Wilkinson High School was housed, until it closed in 2000, in a Grade II* listed building in the Ardwick district of Manchester, designed in 1879–80 by the prolific Manchester architect Thomas Worthington. Formerly known as Nicholls Hospital, the building was funded by Benjamin Nicholls as a...
, although the central tower he used there is placed asymmetrically at the Police Courts, due to the constraints of the site. The interior court rooms "have been preserved with relatively few alterations."
In 1993-96, a modern extension was added to the Aytoun Street side of the courts.
Further reading
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hartwell, Clare & Hyde, Matthew, The Buildings of England: Lancashire - Manchester and the South East (2004) Yale University Press
- Hartwell, Clare Pevsner Architectural Guides: Manchester (2001) Yale University Press