Crumlin Road Courthouse
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name =Crumlin Road Courthouse
| native_name =
| image =Crumlin Road courthouse.png
| caption=Crumlin Road Courthouse
| locmapin =Northern Ireland
| map_caption =Shown in Northern Ireland
| coordinates ={{coord|54.608|-5.943|display=inline,title}}
| location =Crumlin Road, Belfast
| area =
| built =1850
| architect = Charles Lanyon
| architecture =Neoclassical style
| designation1 =Grade B+ Listed Building
| designation1_offname =Courthouse, Crumlin Road, Belfast
| designation1_date =4 February 1988
| designation1_number =HB 26/35/006
}}
The Crumlin Road Courthouse is a former judicial facility on Crumlin Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a Grade B+ listed building.{{cite web|url=https://apps.communities-ni.gov.uk/Buildings/buildview.aspx?id=4102&js=false|title=Courthouse, Crumlin Road, Belfast|publisher=Department for Communities|access-date=23 November 2019}}
History
The building, which was designed by the architect, Charles Lanyon, in the Neoclassical style, was completed in 1850.{{cite web|url=https://www.ulsterarchitecturalheritage.org.uk/case-studies/crumlin-road-courthouse/|title=Crumlin Road Courthouse|publisher=Ulster architectural heritage|access-date=2 November 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/en-GB/AboutUs/Community+Programmes/Heritage/p_htg_CrumlinRoadCourthouse.htm|title=Crumlin Road Courthouse|publisher=Northern Ireland Court Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927032750/http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/en-GB/AboutUs/Community+Programmes/Heritage/p_htg_CrumlinRoadCourthouse.htm|access-date=2 November 2020|archive-date=2007-09-27}} It was built just across the road from the Crumlin Road Gaol which had opened a few years earlier and to which it was connected by an underground passage. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with fifteen bays facing onto Crumlin Road; the central section featured a hexastyle portico with Corinthian order columns supporting an entablature and a pediment containing the Royal coat of arms. A sculpture representing justice by William Boyton Kirk was installed at the apex of the pediment.
The building was originally used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place for Antrim County Council.{{London Gazette|city=b|issue=2357|page=155|date=29 April 1966}} The building was enlarged to the designs of architects, Young and Mackenzie, in 1906. In the 1960s, county leaders decided that the courthouse was too cramped to accommodate the county council in the context of the county council's increasing administrative responsibilities, especially while the courthouse was still acting as a facility for dispensing justice, and therefore chose to move to new premises at County Hall in Ballymena in 1970.{{cite web|url=https://www.architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/county-hall-galgorm-road-ballymena-county-antrim-the-chichester-hall-with-the-council-suite-to-the-l/posterid/RIBA76256.html|title=County hall, Galgorm Road, Ballymena, County Antrim: the Chichester Hall with the council suite to the left|publisher=Royal Institute of British Architects|access-date=24 November 2019}}
Pending the opening of the Laganside Courts Complex,{{cite web|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/famous-courthouse-closes-its-doors-28348083.html|title=Famous courthouse closes its doors|date=17 June 1998|publisher=Belfast Telegraph|access-date=23 November 2019}} judicial hearings were temporarily transferred to other courts to allow the Crumlin Road Courthouse to close in June 1998.[http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/en-GB/AboutUs/Heritage/p_htg_CrumlinRoadCourthouse.htm N I Courts Service] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316213438/http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/en-GB/AboutUs/Heritage/p_htg_CrumlinRoadCourthouse.htm |date=2009-03-16 }} The Crumlin Road Courthouse was sold to local investor Barry Gilligan in September 2003 for £1. His plans for the courthouse included redeveloping it as a tourist attraction and a hotel.{{cite web|last=McCann |first=Nuala |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/5337712.stm |title=UK | Northern Ireland | Courthouse hotel evokes ghosts of past |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-09-12 |access-date=2019-11-02}} The courthouse suffered significant damage in a fire on 12 March 2009{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7940262.stm |title=UK | Northern Ireland | Court fire 'started deliberately' |publisher=BBC News |date=12 March 2009}} and in two fires in August 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/two-blazes-in-two-days-leave-courthouse-a-blackened-shell-14455541.html|title=Two blazes in two days leave courthouse a blackened shell|date=17 August 2009|publisher=Belfast Telegraph|access-date=2 November 2019}}
After the former Crumlin Road Gaol building directly across the road became a visitor attraction in November 2012,{{cite web|title=Crumlin Road Gaol|url=http://visitbelfast.com/things-to-do/member/crumlin-road-gaol|website=Visit Belfast|access-date=4 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818223832/http://visitbelfast.com/things-to-do/member/crumlin-road-gaol|archive-date=18 August 2017|url-status=dead}} there was extensive discussion about as to how the area could be regenerated.{{cite web|title=Draft Crumlin area plan|url=https://minutes3.belfastcity.gov.uk/documents/s11269/Draft%20Crumlin%20Road%20Gaol%20Masterplan%20Appendix%201.pdf|website=Belfast City Countil|access-date=4 August 2017}}{{cite web|title=Belfast Masterplan 2004|url=http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/buildingcontrol-environment/regeneration/belfastmasterplan.aspx|website=Belfast City Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314025849/http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/buildingcontrol-environment/regeneration/belfastmasterplan.aspx|access-date=4 August 2017|archive-date=2016-03-14}} In March 2017, Lawrence Kenwright, from the Signature Living Group, bought the courthouse site and announced plans to convert the building into a hotel.{{cite news|title=Crumlin Road courthouse to be converted into hotel|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-39265603|access-date=4 August 2017|publisher=BBC News|date=14 March 2017}}{{cite news|title=Belfast's Crumlin Road court to become hotel|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/belfasts-crumlin-road-court-to-become-hotel-sold-to-signature-living-35510876.html|access-date=4 August 2017|publisher=Belfast Telegraph|date=8 March 2017}} The building was further damaged in yet another large fire on 1 June 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-52867715 |title=UK | Northern Ireland | Crumlin Road courthouse: Police say fire was deliberate |publisher=BBC News |date=6 January 2020|access-date=14 November 2020}} In 2024, the courthouse was purchased by property developer and Donegal Orange Order Grand Master, David Mahon.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-21 |title='Listed building with endless possibilities' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c88015k9k31o |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Potential new uses reportedly include a hotel or a hospital.{{Cite news |date=2024-07-17 |title=Orange Order chief buys listed Belfast courthouse to transform it into hotel |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/food-drink-hospitality/orange-order-chief-buys-listed-belfast-courthouse-to-transform-it-into-hotel/a1488147831.html |access-date=2024-07-21 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |date=2024-07-18 |title=Private hospital bid being considered by new owner of Crumlin Road Courthouse |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/business/private-hospital-bid-being-considered-by-new-owner-of-crumlin-road-courthouse-2MLV7XBN6BFTTOI4SXM7FQ53CM/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=The Irish News |language=en}} The building is pending redevelopment.{{Cite news |date=2024-07-20 |title=‘Just imagine the people who have walked through that tunnel… some of them to be hanged’: The history of Belfast’s forgotten courthouse |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/just-imagine-the-people-who-have-walked-through-that-tunnel-some-of-them-to-be-hanged-the-history-of-belfasts-forgotten-courthouse/a1892783312.html |access-date=2024-07-21 |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}
References
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