Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB10/12/038

Address :
Strabane Court House Derry Road Strabane Co. Tyrone BT82 8DT

Townland:
Town Parks of Strabane

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Court House

Former Use
Court House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
72-4SW

IG Ref:
H3458 9801

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

A detached symmetrical three-bay classically-styled court house with double-height principal rooms over ground-level basement, built 1805 and substantially refurbished following bomb damage in 1994. The building is T shaped on plan with pedimented breakfront central bay; there is a lean-to office extension to south, and a single-storey courtroom extension to north. Roof is pitched natural slate with a single pebbledashed chimneystack. Eaves are boxed and rainwater goods are half-round aluminium. The walls are cement rendered with rusticated cement quoins. Windows are security glazed with reconstituted stone architraves and sills; all are square-headed with the exception of a segmental headed window to breakfront bay. Principal elevation faces west and has central double-leaf panelled steel security doors to principal floor, accessed by a flight of 17 granite steps flanked by cast concrete balustrade. The cement rendered terminating piers are inscribed with dates at plinth level: 1920 to left, 1994 to right. Fixed to the pediment is the Royal Coat of Arms. Above the entrance is a double-height window; right and left bays have a window to principal and upper floor. The basement is lit by a narrow window to either side of the steps. North gable is blank and abutted at basement level by a modern court extension. The return (court room) is lit by two windows. Rear elevation is centrally abutted by the court-room return. Side bays are lit by a window to principal and upper storey. The return gable has three windows to principal floor and two at basement ground level. South gable has a single window to ground level. The return is abutted at ground-level by a lean-to office extension, of little interest. The court room above is lit by two windows and a further window lights the basement-ground level. The court house is set within a tarmac perimeter bounded by high security walling and fencing on all sides. The wall is cement rendered with the exception of a random rubble section at north-west. Vehicular access gates attended by a security installation open onto Derry Road at west. Roof: Pitched natural slate Walls: Cement rendered Windows: Security glazed, cement rendered architraves. RWG: Aluminium

Architects

Hargrave, John

Historical Information

A ‘Sessions House’ had been built in Strabane by 1622. William Roulston concludes that this early building was probably destroyed in 1641, and the site appears to be unknown, although, like the current building, it had a ‘strong roome under it to keep the prisoners in’ (Roulston, p.24, Brett, p.103). Rowan gives a date for the present building of 1807, however, the primary evidence supports an earlier date of 1805. (Rowan, p.494) A letter from James Hamilton Junior to his father, the Marquess of Abercorn, dated 29 August 1805, speaks of the new Sessions House and indicates that the Abercorn family were financially involved, to some extent, in its construction, “I return from Omagh assizes much more mortified and heavily disappointed at not having been reimbursed (as had been promised) a sum of above £300(?) which I had advanced for the County, and was expended in finishing the new Sessions House of Strabane, but owing to George Sinclair’s having died insolvent, I have been kept out of. Sir John Stewart promised to exert his influence; mine has little effect…” In a further letter of 11 February 1807, James Hamilton states that he has the “satisfaction of knowing that I have been the Procurer and Patron of 5 very large Bridges, besides innumerable small ones, the Sessions House of Strabane too which cost above £1200…” Both Brett and Rowan state that repairs were carried out to the building by John Hargrave in 1825. No primary evidence was found to substantiate this, although some improvements seem to have been carried out in 1825 to convert the ground floor of the Sessions House into a prison or bridewell. According to the Inspectors General of Gaols the bridewell was in an unfinished state in this year, ‘insecure and not provided with beds and blankets, nor can it be, till the cells and rooms are fitted up with fireplaces, windows &c and the rooms plastered, a pump sunk, privies built and the yard walls raised’. The Session House and yard is listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) and valued at £22. It comprises a main building of dimensions 77x28x29 and two additions of 24x22x29 and 24x5x29. On the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 it is captioned ‘Session House’ and shown as a T-shaped structure with a projection to the west. The earliest town plan of Strabane, dating from 1832, is not available at PRONI and so it has not been possible to examine the early ground-plan of the building in more detail. A Sessions House or Court House and bridewell in Strabane are mentioned in several nineteenth century surveys of Ireland, for example the Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland (1846) and the English Cyclopedia (1867). The printed version of Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) lists the Sessions House, offices and yard and values them at £40. The accompanying valuation town plan appears to show that the building has been extended somewhat to the north and there are now outbuildings to the north east and south west. In the Annual Revision records dating from 1864-73 the valuation is revised upwards to £50 probably indicating additions or improvements, perhaps those shown on the Griffith’s Valuation map. The Inspectors’ General report of 1855 states that ‘an addition to this bridewell is in contemplation’ to give accommodation for females. The Inspectors’ General report of 1865 goes into great detail about the court and bridewell following a dispute between the authorities and the keeper of the bridewell who had erected a steam-mill partially on ground belonging to the bridewell in contravention of the terms of his employment. A plan of the front part of the courthouse is shown, indicating the court house above, high steps leading to it ‘built over arch, used as a stable’ and an entrance under the court-house, through an arch, to the bridewell and keeper’s apartment. The plan also shows a yard to the south where prisoners take exercise and a turf and straw house belonging to the county. The Annual Revisions town plan (1884-1908) shows an extension to the south east corner of the building and indicates in greater detail an entrance through the wall to the north of the front steps leading to an archway and thence to a new porch on the north façade of the building, which appears to be the entrance to the bridewell alluded to above. In 1934, the occupier of the Petty Sessions Court House, Caretakers House and offices is the Tyrone County Council. The valuation is initially £50. This is then raised to £100 but dropped to £75 on appeal by the Council who complained that the building is ‘very old and in bad repair and the costs of repair and insurance are considerable’. The inspector found that the building was ‘well fitted up internally’ and comprised a Solicitors’ Room, Magistrates’ Room and office and a Caretaker’s room under. The caretaker’s accommodation comprised: a kitchen, scullery, four bedrooms, two receptions, a lumber room and W.C. A plan and dimensions of the building are given. The building was damaged by a bomb blast in 1994 and suffered serious damage. Now refurbished, it remains in use as a court house to the present day. References: Primary Sources PRONI OS/6/6/5/1 First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1833) PRONI OS/6/6/5/2 Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1854) PRONI OS/6/6/5/3 Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1905) PRONI OS/6/6/5/4 Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1951) PRONI VAL/2/D/6/18B Griffith’s Town Plan Strabane (c.1859) PRONI OS/8/25/1 Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1883) PRONI OS/8/25/2 Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1905) PRONI VAL/12/E/187/1/4 Valuation Town Plan (c.1884-1908) PRONI VAL/3/G/159/1 Valuation Town Plan (1936-55) PRONI VAL/1/B/640 Townland Valuation (1828-40) PRONI Printed Griffith’s Valuation – Union of Strabane (1858) PRONI VAL/12/B/42/31A-M Annual Revision Records (1860-1931) PRONI VAL/3/D/7/9A/22 First General NI Revaluation (1933-57) Report of the Inspectors General on the General State of the Prisons of Ireland (1825, 1855, 1865) Secondary Sources Brett, C.E.B. “Court Houses and Market Houses of the Province of Ulster” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1973. Knight, Charles. “The English Cyclopedia, Vol IV” London, Bradbury Evans & Co, 1867 “Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, Vol III”. Dublin, London and Edinburgh: A. Fullarton and Co, 1846 Roulston, W.J. “Restoration Strabane: 1660-1714” Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007 Rowan, Alistair. “North West Ulster: Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.” Buildings of Ireland Series. Dublin: Penguin Books, 1979.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Strabane Court House is a modestly scaled classical building of 1805, located at the north side of Strabane on the Derry Road. The scale and massing of the original building is intact, and is typical of provincial civic buildings of this period in Ulster. The spatial arrangement reflects the specific use of the building, and has remained unchanged, dominated by a large double-height sessions chamber with ancillary rooms to either side. Historically, it has performed an important civic function and was central to the nineteenth-century development of the town, reflecting its prosperous status at the time. Due to the large extent of replacement fabric in the building, following a refurbishment in 1994 as the result of extensive bomb damage, although historically interesting, it is not deemed worthy of listing.

General Comments

Date of Survey

18 January 2010