Jedburgh Sheriff Court
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Jedburgh Sheriff Court, formerly County Buildings, is a judicial building in the Market Square in
Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...
in Scotland. The building, which continues to be used as a courthouse, is a Category B
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.


History

The first building on the southwest side of the Market Square was a town house, which dated back to 1664. A gatehouse to
Jedburgh Abbey Jedburgh Abbey, a ruined Augustinians, Augustinian abbey which was founded in the 12th century, is situated in the town of Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders, north of the border with England at Carter Bar. History Towards the middle of the 9th ...
, with tower and spire, was erected to the south of the building and initially deployed as a prison, in 1755. It was in the old town house that Sir
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
worked as a young advocate in 1793. By the early 19th century, old town house was dilapidated and the
Commissioners of Supply Commissioners of Supply were local administrative bodies in Scotland from 1667 to 1930. Originally established in each sheriffdom to collect tax, they later took on much of the responsibility for the local government of the counties of Scotland. ...
decided to commission a new courthouse for the area. The new building was designed in the
neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...
, built in
ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
stone and was completed in 1812. The original design featured a symmetrical main frontage of nine bays facing onto Castle Gate. The central section of three bays, which was slightly projected forward, featured a three-bay arcaded
porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...
with a balustraded
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
. There were three
sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...
s on the first floor, with recessed panels above. The outer sections were fenestrated with sash windows on the ground floor, and featured niches flanked by sash windows on the first floor. There were single
Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...
pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
s flanking the bays in the central section, and paired Doric order pilasters at the corners of the building, all supporting a
frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
with
triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...
s, a
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...
and a
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
. Internally, the principal room was the courtroom on the first floor. The gatehouse to the south ceased operating as a prison when Jedburgh Prison was completed in 1823. In the 19th century, the building, which became known as "County Buildings", served as the offices of the county officials for
Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...
and the local commissioners of supply, as well as being the venue for local hearings of the sheriff court. The courthouse was remodelled to a design by
David Rhind David Rhind FRSE (1808 – 26 April 1883) was a prominent Scotland, Scottish architect, mainly remembered for his public buildings, banks, churches and schools, most of which are now listed buildings. Life Rhind was born at 15 Gayfield Plac ...
in 1861. The changes involved a new three-bay frontage facing onto the Market Square, as well as a new four-bay extension to the south, along Castle Gate, to create a new courtroom, which was decorated with a
vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...
ceiling with ornate plasterwork and three
cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...
s.
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
visited the town and, accompanied by civic leaders, stood in front of the building as she reviewed a guard of honour drawn from the Roxburghshire and Selkirk (The Border) Rifle Volunteers in the Market Square in September 1867. In May 1913, the building was the venue for the trial of the suffragettes, Arabella Scott, Elizabeth and Agnes Thomson and Edith Hudson, who were accused of trying to set fire to a racecourse stand at Kelso Racecourse. They were found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment. During the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, to protect local people from German bombing, the court rigorously enforced the blackout regulations, imposing fines or imprisoning anyone who breached them. A plaque, intended to commemorate the centenary of the death of Sir Walter Scott, was designed by Alexander Carrick and placed on the front of the building in 1932. A major programme of refurbishment works, which involved the complete reconstruction of the Castle Gate porch, was completed in 1991, enabling the building to continue to serve as the venue for sheriff court hearings in the area.


See also

* List of listed buildings in Jedburgh, Scottish Borders


References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1812 Listed government buildings in Scotland Category B listed buildings in the Scottish Borders 1812 establishments in Scotland Court buildings in Scotland