The Exeter Law Courts is a

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in Southernhay Gardens,

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, England.

History

Until the early 21st century all criminal and civil court hearings were held in the old Law Courts at Exeter Castle. However, as the number of court cases in Exeter grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for both Crown Court hearings and County Court hearings. The site selected by the

Lord Chancellor's Department The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales. Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chance ...

had formed part of the original site of the

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (commonly referred to as RD&E), and with a main site sometimes known as Wonford Hospital, is a large teaching hospital situated in Exeter, Devon, England, and is run by the Royal Devon University Healthcare NH ...

at Southernhay. The new building was procured under a

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 ...

contract in 2002. It was designed by Jacobs Babtie in the

Modernist style Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architecture wa ...

, built by

Sir Robert McAlpine Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, educ ...

at a cost of £20 million and was completed in 2004. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage facing west along Southernhay Gardens. The left hand section was faced in white cladding and fenestrated at the corners by four small

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...

s on two levels; the central section featured a three-storey

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

, while the right hand section, which was also three storeys high, featured a narrow full height blind wall with a Royal coat of arms at second floor level and, to the right of that a curved section with three tri-partite windows at second floor level. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate six courtrooms. Notable cases included the trial and conviction of Lisa Hayden-Johnson, in January 2010, on charges of child cruelty and perverting the course of justice. They also included the trial and conviction of two men, in April 2013, over a plot to rob and murder the singer,

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

, at her home in

Cullompton Cullompton () is a town and civil parish in the district of Mid Devon and the county of Devon, England. It is north-east of Exeter and lies on the River Culm. In 2021, the parish as a whole had a population of 10,071, while the built-up area o ...

, Devon.

References

{{reflist

External links

Court information
Buildings and structures in Exeter Crown Court buildings Government buildings completed in 2004 Court buildings in England