Oban Sheriff Court
{{short description|Judicial building in Oban, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Oban Sheriff Court
| native_name =
| image = Oban Sheriff Court ^ Justice of the Peace Court - April 2016 (2) - geograph.org.uk - 4921779.jpg
| caption =The building in 2016
| locmapin =Scotland Argyll and Bute
| map_caption =Shown in Argyll and Bute
| coordinates ={{Coord| 56.4113|N| 5.4734|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| location =Albany Street, Oban
| area =
| built =1889
| architect =David MacKintosh
| architecture = Italianate style
| governing_body =
| designation1 =Category B Listed Building
| designation1_offname = Oban Sheriff Court and Justice Of The Peace Court, Albany Street, Oban
| designation1_date =12 October 1995
| designation1_number =LB38801
| website=
}}
Oban Sheriff Court is a judicial building on Albany Street in Oban in Scotland. The building, which remains in use as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB38801|desc= Oban Sheriff Court and Justice Of The Peace Court, Albany Street, Oban|cat=B|access-date=19 September 2024}}
History
The current building was intended to replace an earlier courthouse and prison in Argyll Square, which had been designed by David Rhind and completed in 1856.{{cite web|url=https://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=101332 |title=Oban Sheriff Courthouse|publisher=Dictionary of Scottish Architects|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151021025404/https://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=101332 |archive-date=21 October 2015}}{{canmore|desc= Oban, Argyll Square, Court House And Jail|num=156695| access-date=19 September 2024}} In the 1880s the Argyll Commissioners of Supply decided to procure a more substantial courthouse for the county. The site they selected was on the southeast side of Albany Street.{{cite web |url=https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.5&lat=56.4113&lon=-5.4734&layers=6&b=1&o=100&marker=56.4113,-5.4734|title=Ordnance Survey Six-inch 1st edition, 1843–1882 |access-date=19 September 2024}}
The building was designed by David MacKintosh in the Italianate style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1889.{{canmore|desc= Oban, Albany Street, Sheriff Courthouse|num=233807| access-date=19 September 2024}} The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Albany Street. The central bay featured a square-headed doorway flanked by pilasters and brackets supporting a balcony with urns and a balustraded front. The other bays on the ground floor, which was rusticated, were fenestrated by square headed sash windows, while the bays on the first floor were fenestrated by round-headed windows with archivolts. The first floor windows were separated by pilasters with imposts supporting the archivolts. At roof level there was a modillioned cornice and a parapet. Internally, the principal area was the main courtroom on the first floor extending right across the main frontage. The courtroom featured finely carved palmettes on the wooden bench, the jury box and the dock.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqEuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA187 |title= The Spaces of Justice The Architecture of the Scottish Court |first1= Peter|last1= Robson|first2= Johnny |last2=Rodger |year= 2017|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press|isbn= 978-1683930891 |page=187}}
Notable cases which appeared in front of the court included the trial and conviction of the Scotland international rugby union player, John MacCallum, who was a conscientious objector during the First World War. He was fined £2 for being absent without leave.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19160610/349/0008|title=Fined as an absentee|newspaper=The Scotsman|via=British Newspaper Archive|date=30 May 1916}} In March 1953, the court was the venue for the inquest into the deaths of two crew members from the Islay lifeboat, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning during an attempt to save the lives of 15 fishermen on the fishing trawler Michael Griffiths. The whole crew of the Michael Griffiths were also died.{{cite journal |title=The Thirty-First of January: A Day of Disaster |journal=The Lifeboat |date=Spring 1953 |volume=XXXIII |issue=365 |page=536 |url=https://lifeboatmagazinearchive.rnli.org/volume/33/365/the-thirty-first-of-january-a-day-of-disaster |access-date=15 September 2024}}
The building was refurbished in 1990 but in such a way that its original internal finishings were largely retained. More recently, the building was the venue for the claim by a retired lawyer, Ian Hamilton, against Royal Bank of Scotland for failure to disclose its true financial position prior to is collapse in 2008. Hamilton abandoned the case when the sheriff ruled that the case was too complex to proceed without going before a higher court.{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7911204.stm |title= QC abandons RBS 'negligence' case|date=26 February 2009|newspaper=BBC News|access-date=19 September 2024}}{{cite web|url= https://www.casecheck.co.uk/ian-hamilton-qc-v-the-royal-bank-of-scotland-group-plc-oban-sheriff-court-26-february-2009.html |title= Ian Hamilton QC v The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC – Oban Sheriff Court|date=26 February 2009|publisher=Case Check| access-date=19 September 2024}}{{cite news|url= https://www.thetimes.com/article/ian-hamilton-sues-rbs-over-shares-qcv8lzwhvzc |title=Ian Hamilton sues RBS over shares|newspaper=The Sunday Times|date=18 January 2009| access-date=19 September 2024}}