History of the Devizes Assize Court

Layout of the Building

The main entrance to the building is under the projecting Ionic portico, which leads to the central entrance hall, originally via three doorways. The glazed roof over the central entrance hall is an original feature that gave light to a decorative coffered ceiling below. Courts 1 and 2 have direct access from the main hall. Also accessible from the entrance portico, through side doors, are two large rooms to the east and west front of the building. The west room was the grand jury room and the east room a records room prior to its later subdivision into four separate spaces. This east room has been much altered over the history of the building, being used as a records room in the 19th century, a caretakers’ flat in the early 20th century, and the local Police Station in the mid to late 20th century. 

Access and security were key considerations in the 1830s design of the building. The formal approach to the administration of justice can be appreciated by how the various functions were accommodated. The importance of the Judges placed them in a privileged position with accommodation provided to suit their status.

Each group of users was granted access separately and assigned to distinct areas of the building. When the court was in session, there was a secure police presence at the front entrance through which members of the public would enter, who were then directed to the public galleries and kept apart from the rest of the court by low partitions within the courtrooms. Juries were provided with their own accommodation and, in the case of the crown court a separate access from the grand jury room. Judges accessed the courtrooms through side doors. Prisoners were taken to the basement cells via a rear staircase and entered the courtrooms through an underground passage and central staircases that led directly into the docks. Tracking the routes of these categories of building users through floor plan indicates how the court buildings have historically functioned. 

Beyond the main entrance hall was a single storey flat roofed section situated between the two courtrooms which has since been demolished. The county architects plan of 1934 indicates this area contained three rooms and a lobby. The lobby was directly linked to the main hall and gave direct access to both courtrooms. The centre west room was a jury retiring room and the centre east room a counsels’ retiring room which also had direct access to court 2. The northernmost room at the rear of this centre section had access to both judicial benches and was the judges' retiring room.

West Courtroom

The west courtroom was the original Crown Court. The bench was at the northern end and alongside and recessed in the west wall was a small grand jury gallery. This was accessible from the grand jury room via a corridor running along the western side of the building. The dock was centrally placed within the courtroom with direct access to the basement cells. There were two levels of public seating to the south end of the courtroom accessed via a short stair and corridor from the central main. The lower gallery was directly accessed from this corridor with the public separated from the court by a low partition. A stair at the end of the corridor provided access to the higher gallery. 

East Courtoom

The east courtroom was the original Nisi Prius courtroom. Its layout was similar to the west courtroom in that the bench was at the north end, the upper and lower public galleries at the south end and the dock in the centre but with no jury box. Access was a mirror image of that to the west. 

Both courtrooms were double-height and lit by windows in the upper parts of the north, east and west walls. 

There is no evidence to suggest that the building has undergone any major alteration or extension from its original form except that the interior has been stripped out completely since the Courts were closed. The single-storey section between the courtrooms, which housed ancillary rooms, and the former records room to the east, have also been demolished. 

According to a report prepared in 1984 by Caroe & Partners Architects for Wiltshire County Council, the Courts appear to have undergone some minor alterations around 1890 when the judges' rooms were provided with new fireplaces. In addition, new panelling was installed together with canopies over the judges' dais. 

The original access to the basements cell was via an outside rear staircase, which also served the boiler room. From the cells was a narrow brick tunnel that provided direct access to each dock. It appears that this basement access was extended when the cells were moved into the former ground floor record store sometime before 1934 and it may be assumed that at this stage the basement cells were abandoned. A small single storey detached female cell building is shown on the 1934 plan.

The glass rooflights over the entrance hall appear to be a later addition as there is evidence of alteration to the roof structure to accommodate them. The installation of the rooflights caused deformation of the roof structure, which survives in part under later accretions but its condition is now perilous.

Additional work was undertaken in the 1960s to modernise and improve the accommodation including the cells and at the time the Victorian panelling in the Courts was concealed with plywood. The most recent work then reported (1980s) was related to maintenance of the fabric with various attempts made to eradicate repeated attacks of dry rot. At that time the high roofs of the Courts and of the wings were reslated in a mixture of asbestos and second-hand Welsh slates, and the lower flat roofs covered with mineral felt and spar chippings. Parapet and back gutters to the higher roofs were felted and turnerised. Minor repairs to the stonework, including repairs to the portico, were undertaken in 1980.

Information from Colin Johns, Architect to the Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust