Linlithgow Sheriff Court is a former judicial building on the High Street in

Linlithgow Linlithgow ( ; ; ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a historic route between Edi ...

in Scotland. The building, which has been converted for residential use, 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

Until the mid-19th century, court hearings were held in the old town house in Linlithgow. After finding this arrangement unsatisfactory, court officials decided to commission a dedicated courthouse: the site they selected, on the south side of the High Street, had been occupied by Archbishop John Hamilton's house in the 16th century. The new building was designed by Thomas Brown II and James Maitland Wardrop in the Tudor Revival style, built in

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

and was completed in 1863. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of six bays facing onto the High Street. The windows were all

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

ed and transomed. The first and last bays were gabled, with

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s in the gables, and

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s at the apex of the gables. The second and fifth bays were narrow connecting bays with bipartite windows on both floors, and the third and fourth bays were projected forward, gabled and featured tall chimney stacks. The first and third bays were fenestrated with tri-partite windows on the ground floor and bipartite windows on the first floor, while the fourth bay featured an arched doorway with a

hood mould In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin , lip), drip mould or dripstone is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a '' pediment''. This moulding can be ...

on the ground floor and a bipartite window on the first floor. The last bay was fenestrated by a

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

on the ground floor and a bipartite window on the first floor. Internally, the principal rooms were the main courtroom, with a timber boarded ceiling, on the first floor, and the record room, with a triple

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, on the ground floor. In 1875, a plaque was erected on the front of the building, to the right of the doorway, to record the assassination of the Regent of Scotland,

James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (c. 1531 – 23 January 1570) was a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland. At times a supporter of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, he was the regent of Scotl ...

, by

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

on the site in 1570. After the new Livingston Sheriff Court at

West Lothian Civic Centre West Lothian Civic Centre is a municipal building on Howden South Road in Livingston, West Lothian in Scotland. The building serves as the offices and meeting place of West Lothian Council as well as the venue for hearings of Livingston Sheriff ...

was completed in July 2009, Linlithgow Sheriff Court closed in August 2009. The courthouse was subsequently acquired by a developer and converted into 21 short-term accommodation suites.

References

{{reflist Category B listed buildings in West Lothian Listed government buildings in Scotland Linlithgow 1863 establishments in Scotland Government buildings completed in 1863 Court buildings in Scotland

History

See also

References