Hicks Hall: Difference between revisions
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==History== |
==History== |
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For many years prior to 1612 the Middlesex justices had held their sessions at the |
For many years prior to 1612 the Middlesex justices had held their sessions at the Castle or Windmill Tavern, on the east side of the street, just north of [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield Bar]] (a tollgate on the perimeter of the [[City of London]]), and therefore at the closest point in the county of Middlesex to the City.<ref name=bh>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66099 |title=Sir Baptist Hicks |editor-first=John Cordy |editor-last=Jeaffreson |editor-link=John Cordy Jeaffreson |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1892 |work=Middlesex County Records: Volume 4: 1667–88 |accessdate=31 October 2014 }}</ref> |
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The new building, which was paid for by wealthy fabric merchant [[Baptist Hicks|Sir Baptist Hicks]] (or Hickes), later created 1st Viscount Campden, opened in 1611 on land that had been granted to the magistrates of Middlesex by [[James I of England|James I]] the previous year. The estimated cost of building alone was estimated at up to £900, in general commodities {{Inflation|UK|900|1611|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}. |
The new building, which was paid for by wealthy fabric merchant [[Baptist Hicks|Sir Baptist Hicks]] (or Hickes), later created 1st Viscount Campden, opened in 1611 on land that had been granted to the magistrates of Middlesex by [[James I of England|James I]] the previous year. The estimated cost of building alone was estimated at up to £900, in general commodities {{Inflation|UK|900|1611|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}. |
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Revision as of 12:44, 27 June 2019
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2011) |
Hicks Hall (1611–1778) was a building in St John Street, Clerkenwell, London. It was the first purpose-built sessions house for justices of the peace of the county of Middlesex (including the City of Westminster), and became the main court of petty sessions and arraignment for more serious offences, including cases involving plots, attacks and minor transgressions against the state.
History
For many years prior to 1612 the Middlesex justices had held their sessions at the Castle or Windmill Tavern, on the east side of the street, just north of Smithfield Bar (a tollgate on the perimeter of the City of London), and therefore at the closest point in the county of Middlesex to the City.[1]
The new building, which was paid for by wealthy fabric merchant Sir Baptist Hicks (or Hickes), later created 1st Viscount Campden, opened in 1611 on land that had been granted to the magistrates of Middlesex by James I the previous year. The estimated cost of building alone was estimated at up to £900, in general commodities equivalent to £228,456 in 2023.
At the first session in the new building, it was resolved that the building would be named "Hicks-hall" in honour of its patron. For 167 years, Hicks Hall was used to hear cases in the county of Middlesex. It is mentioned in many contemporary reports and in Samuel Pepys's diary. One notable case was on 9 October 1660, when a grand jury was convened to try several men who signed the death warrant of Charles I.
Hicks Hall remained in use until 1778. By that time the building had fallen into disrepair so was closed and demolished. Hicks Hall sessions were transferred to the new Middlesex Sessions House at Clerkenwell Green. In a main room there an engraved chimneypiece from the old sessions house was kept, which was inscribed:
Sir Baptist Hickes of Kensington in the County of Middlesex Knight one of the justices of the peace of this county of Middlesex of his worthy disposition and at his own proper charge buylt this session house in the year of our Lord God 1612 and gave it to the justices of peace of this county and their successors for a sessions house for ever. 1618.[1]
When Middlesex Sessions House closed in 1921, cases spanning an Inner London area on both sides of the Thames were moved to the Sessions House in Newington.
Geographical importance
Hicks Hall was the traditional starting point of the Great North Road, and continued to be used as the initial datum point for mileages on that road long after the building itself had been demolished. Measurements were taken from the building's front, which was approximately in the middle of St John Street ("the High-street of Saint John"), at the point where the much shorter St John's Lane branches off.[2]
References
- ^ a b Jeaffreson, John Cordy, ed. (1892). "Sir Baptist Hicks". Middlesex County Records: Volume 4: 1667–88. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ Norman Webster (1974) The Great North Road. Bath, Adams and Dart. pages 15–16
- Dictionary of National Biography
- Samuel Pepys' diary, 6 December 1660