Southampton Courts of Justice

Until the early 1930s, criminal court hearings in Southampton, known as the assizes, were heard in the Bargate in the High Street.{{cite news|url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/heritage/10872567.the-last-court-cases-heard-in-the-bargate-in-southampton/|title=The last court cases heard in the Bargate in Southampton|newspaper=Southern Daily Echo|date=12 December 2013|access-date=29 January 2023}}{{cite book |last=Peberdy |first=Philip |date=1967 |title=Bargate Guildhall Museum Southampton |publisher=Southampton Museums |pages=12–16 |oclc=655570724 }} Such cases were then transferred to the west wing of Southampton Civic Centre when it opened in November 1933.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZtvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT180|title=The Story of Southampton|first=Peter |last=Neal|publisher=The History Press|year=2014|isbn= 978-1860776748}} However, as the number of court cases in Southampton grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for criminal matters: the site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department on London Road had been occupied by the headquarters of the Ordnance Survey which had been heavily bombed as part of the Southampton Blitz on 30 November and 1 December 1940 during Second World War.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hampshire/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9232000/9232001.stm|title=Southampton Blitz: Ordnance Survey map of bomb sites|date=30 November 2010|newspaper=BBC News|access-date=29 January 2023}}{{cite web|url=http://www.garyreggae.co.uk/wordpress/history/os-history/os-buildings/london-road/|title=London Road|date=19 October 2018 |publisher=Gary Reggae|access-date=29 January 2023}}

Construction of the new building started in May 1984. It was designed by Broadway Malyan in the Modernist style, built in yellow brick at a cost of £7 million,{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1996-01-26/debates/24326606-27f4-4596-af08-e5c5019ec7e6/CapitalBuildingProgramme|title=Capital Building Programme|date=26 January 1996|publisher=Hansard|access-date=12 March 2023}} and was completed in December 1986.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=67tUAAAAMAAJ|title=New developments|publisher=RIBA Journal|page=11|volume=91|year=1984|quote= Broadway & Malyan, who have opened a new office in Southampton, are starting on site this month with the £5.4 million Southampton Courts of Justice scheme.|access-date=29 January 2023}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUi8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT136|title=The Democratic Courthouse: A Modern History of Design, Due Process and Dignity|first1= Linda|last1= Mulcahy|first2= Emma|last2= Rowden|year=2019|publisher=Taylor and Francis|isbn=978-0429558689}} It was officially opened by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Lane, in February 1987.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DlIdDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT54|title= Southampton in 50 Buildings|first= Garth|last= Groombridge|year=2016|publisher=Amberley Publishing|isbn=978-1445652764}} The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of eight bays facing London Road. On the first floor, the left hand section of two bays, was connected by a canted section, to the right hand section of five bays, which was projected forward and cantilevered out over the pavement. The main frontage was fenestrated on the first floor by pairs of casement windows split by brick columns supporting the first floor structure. A short flight of steps led up to the entrance, which was in the right-hand section, and a Royal coat of arms was mounted on the wall to the right of the steps. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate ten courtrooms.{{cite web|url=http://xhibit.justice.gov.uk/southampton.htm|title=Southampton|publisher=Ministry of Justice| access-date=29 January 2023}}

Notable cases include the trial and acquittal, in January 1992, of the former football coach, Bob Higgins, on sex abuse charges.{{cite news|title=Ex-Southampton football coach accused of abuse 'not vetted'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38200993|date=5 December 2016|newspaper=BBC News| access-date=29 January 2023}}{{cite news|last1=Evans|first1=Martin|title=Southampton coach sacked over child abuse allegations is still working in football|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/04/southampton-coach-sacked-child-abuse-allegations-still-working/|work=Telegraph|date=4 December 2016 |access-date=29 January 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.southamptonfc.com/-/media/files/barnardos-independent-review.pdf|title=Barnardo's independent review into the sexual abuse perpetrated by Higgins when he had links with, and was in the employ of, Southampton Football Club|page=56|publisher=Barnardo's|date=1 November 2021| access-date=29 January 2023}} Nearly 30 years later, in June 2019, Higgins was sentenced to 24 years and three months in prison at Bournemouth Crown Court on charges relating to the United Kingdom football sexual abuse scandal.{{cite news |title=Football coach Bob Higgins jailed for 24 years for abusing trainees |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-48608863 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=12 June 2019|access-date=29 January 2023}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.find-court-tribunal.service.gov.uk/courts/southampton-combined-court-centre Court information]

{{Commonscat|Southampton Combined Court Centre}}{{Buildings in Southampton}}

Category:Buildings and structures in Southampton

Category:Crown Court buildings

Category:Government buildings completed in 1986

Category:Court buildings in England