The Sessions House is a municipal building in Ewell Road,
Surbiton
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...
, London. It is a Grade II
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
In the late 19th century Surbiton local board met in various places including private residences and public houses but, after the area became an urban district in 1894, civic leaders decided that this arrangement was inadequate and chose to procure purpose-built civic offices;
the site selected had been occupied by a private residence known as "Hill House".
The building, which was designed in the
Edwardian Baroque style, was completed in 1898.
[ The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Ewell Road; the central section featured an arched doorway with a ]fanlight
A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...
on the ground floor; there was a wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...
balcony and a round-headed window with the borough coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
and a pediment
Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
above on the first floor; there was a 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 ...
containing a clock at roof level.[
The building became the headquarters of ]Municipal Borough of Surbiton
Surbiton was a local government district in northeast Surrey, United Kingdom, from 1855 to 1965.
Creation
Until 1855 Surbiton was administered as part of the civil parish, parish of Kingston upon Thames (parish), Kingston upon Thames. In that ye ...
when it secured municipal borough
A municipal borough was a type of local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...
status in 1936 but ceased to be the local seat of government after the creation of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a London boroughs, borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden, Surbiton and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four List ...
in 1965. Instead, the building was converted for judicial use as a venue for holding the quarter sessions
The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...
: it then became known as the "Sessions House".[ Following the implementation of the ]Courts Act 1971
The Courts Act 1971The citation of this act by this short title is authorised bsection 59(1)of this act. (c. 23) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the purpose of which was to reform and modernise the courts system of England and ...
, the former assizes courthouse was re-designated Surbiton Crown Court.
Crown Court sittings at the Sessions House ceased in 1997 when a new Crown Court opened at The Bittoms in Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...
. However the courthouse continued to operate as an immigration appeal court. After the building fell vacant in 2009, it was converted for use as a learning disability centre managed by a social enterprise concern known as "Your Health Care" which started to provide some services at the centre on behalf of Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust runs Kingston Hospital, an acute NHS hospital in Kingston upon Thames, South West London. The Trust was licensed as an NHS Foundation Trust by Monitor (NHS) from 1 May 2013. The Trust has been rated 'outstan ...
.[ The roof was subsequently changed and the building was then used as an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal office.]
Notes
References
Sources
*{{cite web, url=https://archive.org/stream/surbitonthirtytw00richrich/surbitonthirtytw00richrich_djvu.txt, title=Surbiton; thirty-two years of local self-government, 1855-1887, page=8, publisher=Bull and Son, year=1888, first=Rowley, last=Richardson
Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
City and town halls in London
Government buildings completed in 1898
Grade II listed government buildings
Court buildings in England