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Stornoway Sheriff Court

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Judicial building in Stornoway, Scotland

Stornoway Sheriff Court
The building in 2018
LocationLewis Street, Stornoway
Coordinates58°12′35″N 6°23′03″W / 58.2098°N 6.3841°W / 58.2098; -6.3841
Built1843
ArchitectThomas Brown II
Architectural style(s)Tudor Revival style
Listed Building – Category B
Official nameStornoway Sheriff Court and Former Jail, including boundary walls, archway and railings, Lewis Street, Stornoway
Designated27 November 1989
Reference no.LB41710
Stornoway Sheriff Court is located in Outer HebridesStornoway Sheriff CourtShown in Outer Hebrides

Stornoway Sheriff Court is a judicial building on Lewis Street in Stornoway in Scotland. The building, which continues to be used as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.

History

In the early 1840s, civic officials decided to commission a prison block for the area. The site they selected was on the east side of Lewis Street. The new building was designed by Thomas Brown II in the Tudor Revival style, built in ashlar stone, and was completed in 1843. It contained a series of prison cells with high horizontal windows. The complex was extended forward, with a new courthouse added at the front, to a design by Andrew Maitland in 1870.

The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Lewis Street. The first two bays, which were projected forward, were fenestrated by bipartite mullioned on both floors and gabled, with lancet windows in the gables, and chimney stacks at the apex of the gables. The third bay, which was slightly projected forward, featured a segmental headed doorway with a hood mould on the ground floor, a bipartite mullioned window on the first floor, and a small pediment with a finial above. The last two bays were fenestrated with sash windows on both floors, and gabled, with a chimney stack at the apex of left-hand gable, and a bellcote at the apex of the right-hand gable. Internally, the principal rooms were the offices, with vaulted ceilings, on the ground floor, and the main courtroom on the first floor.

In April 1891, the courthouse was the venue for the trial of a group of crofters who had sought to occupy the land at Orinsay that their ancestors had farmed before the clearances in 1843. A total of 15 of the crofters were found guilty and imprisoned for trespass. The principal landowner, William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, eventually allowed the land to be broken up into small holdings in the early 1920s.

In February 1919, the building was the venue for the public inquiry into the loss of the steam yacht, HMY Iolaire, which had been wrecked in a storm at the mouth of Stornoway harbour on New Year's Day 1919. The disaster killed more than 200 people, including many of the young men of the isles of Lewis and Harris. The jury found that the officer in charge did not exercise sufficient prudence in approaching the harbour, and that the boat failed to slow down.

The building continues to serve as the venue for sheriff court hearings in the area, although, due to staffing issues with the escort services, hearings involving juries were moved to the mainland in July 2023.

See also

References

  1. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Stornoway Sheriff Court and Former Jail, including boundary walls, archway and railings, Lewis Street, Stornoway (Category B Listed Building) (LB41710)". Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  2. "Ordnance Survey Six-inch 1st edition, 1843–1882". Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  3. "Orinsay – a survival story against all the odds". Stornoway Gazette. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  4. "Orinsay…crofting history recalled". We Love the West Side. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  5. "The Orinsay Trials IV: the Second Trial". Hebridean Connections. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  6. "Book Review: When I Heard the Bell: The Loss of the Iolaire". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  7. Wilson, Brian (2 January 1994). "New Year's Day 1919 / A private tragedy at Lewis". The Independent. London. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  8. "The Iolaire disaster, where 200 men died yards from shore". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 12 June 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  9. "Iolaire Disaster". The Scotsman. p. 7. Retrieved 21 September 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
  10. "Stornoway Sheriff Court". Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  11. "Island sheriff court trials moved to mainland". The Herald. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  12. "Court centralisation: Removal of island jury trials "undermines justice"". West Highland Free Press. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
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