Listed building outline

Former Berwick Court House And Prison With Attached Wall And Detached Rear Stable Range

Field Value Fact links
Reference 1446315 Facts
Prefix listed-building-outline Facts
Name Former Berwick Court House And Prison With Attached Wall And Detached Rear Stable Range Facts
Dataset Listed building outline no fact link
Organisation Northumberland County Council no fact link
Start date 2017-07-26 no fact link
End date no fact link
Entry date 2017-07-26 Facts
Typology geography no fact link
Geometry MULTIPOLYGON (((-2.002382 55.772308, -2.002392 55.772305, -2.002356 55.772232, -2.002416 55.772221, -2.002407 55.772195, -2.002442 55.772188, -2.002434 55.772176, -2.002444 55.772163, -2.002439 55.772153, -2.002416 55.772148, -2.00241 55.772135, -2.002377 55.772139, -2.002351 55.772088, -2.002364 55.772086, -2.002355 55.772067, -2.002379 55.772062, -2.002371 55.772052, -2.002382 55.772039, -2.002376 55.772028, -2.002358 55.772023, -2.00235 55.772007, -2.002312 55.772013, -2.002299 55.771987, -2.002239 55.771994, -2.002231 55.771977, -2.002205 55.771967, -2.002149 55.771975, -2.002139 55.771955, -2.00211 55.771948, -2.002072 55.771952, -2.002069 55.771945, -2.001991 55.771957, -2.002116 55.77221, -2.002241 55.772185, -2.002254 55.772213, -2.002301 55.772206, -2.002316 55.772235, -2.002345 55.772231, -2.002382 55.772308)), ((-2.001813 55.771959, -2.001949 55.772261, -2.002046 55.772248, -2.001913 55.771949, -2.001813 55.771959))) Facts
Point POINT (-2.002135 55.772094) Facts
Notes The listed buildings are shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (`the Act?), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act. Summary of Building Court house and prison with attached wall 1846-1849, to the earlier designs of Thomas Brown; prison range extended 1867 by W J Gray. Building converted to offices 1891-1892 with further C20 and early-C21 alterations. Tudor-Jacobean style. Stable range 1891-1892. Not included in the listing are the single-storey C20/C21 extensions attached to the left and right returns and the former cartshed attached to the north side of the stable. Reasons for Designation The former Berwick Court House and Prison of 1846-1849 by Thomas Brown is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: Architectural interest: * an accomplished courthouse and prison design by the leading Scottish prison designer of the period; * a distinctive composition that has a well-crafted and good quality exterior incorporating several of Brown's trademark features; * it retains a readable original layout in which the three distinct functional spaces (prison, court and domestic accommodation) are clearly defined; * significant internal fixtures remain throughout the building including joinery, fireplaces and plaster work; * it retains a relatively rare survival of an urban stable possessing significant horse-related features including timber mangers and water troughs. Historic interest: * Thomas Brown's only prison commission in England, illustrating the impact of Scottish influence on Berwick's architectural development; * a mid-C19 design that illustrates reformed Scottish principles of prison building that were not widely adopted for local prisons in England until the later C19. Group value: * the building benefits from a functional group value with the listed Old Berwick Jail and the police station and magistrate's court, which taken together represent the development and reform of crime and punishment from the mid-C18 to the early C20; * Berwick court house and prison benefits from spatial group value with a number of surrounding listed buildings lining Wallace Green and The Parade. History As early as 1837 there were proposals to replace the existing C18 Berwick Gaol with a purpose-built court house and prison. Attempts to purchase land in 1841 were unsuccessful but regardless of the lack of a building site, a new building was designed by Thomas Brown of Edinburgh which was to be built by Adam Young of Kelso at a cost of #7000. Original plans (1844) were subsequently amended (1847) after the site on Wallace Green was purchased. Construction on the Wallace Green site began in late 1846 and the building opened on 26 November 1849. This was always a very controversial project with many residents opposing the great extravagance which it was thought would be better spent improving domestic sanitation within the town. The new building is depicted on the 1:528 Berwick Town Plan published in 1855 annotated 'court house and prison': it comprises a front range courthouse and a rear range prison block with a pair of exercise yards. Original plans show the internal configuration of spaces. Within the prison wing female prisoners are housed in a linear range of cells with a washing house and bathroom and a double-cell hospital to the ground floor accessed off a corridor. Male prisoners are housed in a similar arrangement to the upper floors with an open iron gallery to the second floor. The court house range has a ground floor court and a witness waiting room, accessed by a separate public entrance and lobby. Staff rooms including matron's accommodation are accessed off a separate staff entrance and lobby. The first floor is reached via separate staff and public staircases and at its centre is a double-height chapel with adjoining chaplain's room and debtors' rooms. There is also a self-contained keeper's apartment and office, the latter overlooking the prison corridor. The chapel and keeper's apartment extend to the second floor, which also contains the under keeper's room and a store. The building was equipped with an innovative `passive air conditioning? system of heated ventilating shafts. In 1867 the prison wing was extended by local architect W J Gray, resulting in reconstruction of one of the exercise yards. By 1878 the court house and prison had gone out of use and the building was purchased by the town council for #1138; between 1891 and 1892 it was converted to offices for the Urban Sanitary Authority resulting in the insertion of a new entrance through the west elevation and various internal alterations. The rear exercise yards were replaced by a new stable and cartshed with hayloft to facilitate the work of the Sanitary Board. Late-C20 and early-C21 alterations include small single-storey extensions to the south and east elevations and the insertion of some modern openings, doors, lightweight partitions and inserted ceilings to office areas. Thomas Brown (1806-1872) began his architectural career in his father's firm and probably worked in the office of William Burn prior to being appointed as architect to the Prison Board of Scotland in 1837 when he set up an independent office in Edinburgh. He therefore had extensive experience in designing county court houses and prisons and produced standard prison designs, working on more than twenty examples in Scotland, almost all of which are listed. Brown's prisons took on board the suggestions of the prison reformers and were built to reflect contemporary ideas of observation and control, with solitary rather than mass confinement in a hygienic environment and with an emphasis on rehabilitation. Many designs could be easily enlarged by extending the cell corridor. Thomas Brown is the leading prison architect of the C19 in Scotland. Berwick is his only prison and court in England. Details Court house and prison with attached wall 1846-1849, to the earlier designs of Thomas Brown; prison range extended 1867 by W J Gray. Building converted to offices 1891-1892 with further later-C20 and early-C21 alterations. Tudor-Jacobean style. Stable range 1891-1892. MATERIALS: yellow ashlar sandstone to the front range; red sandstone to the rear prison range and stable range. Slate roofs with stone gable copings. PLAN: symmetrical front range comprising court house and associated functions including chapel, and staff accommodation. Attached to the rear is a rectangular prison range, and further to the rear a detached stable range. EXTERIOR: the main west elevation has five wide bays of two storeys and attics under pitched roofs with flat roofs to the end towers. Bays two and four project forward. There are gables over the three centre bays and battlements to the corner towers. Windows are either four-over-four unhorned and horned sashes or one-over-one horned sashes, and all have hood moulds; there are also first floor and eaves strings. Double-height canted bay windows with castellated parapets occupy bays two and four, and the wider central bay has end projections rising to paired polygonal chimneys with a high gable between them and a tall ventilation chimney rising behind. There are paired windows to the ground floor with a plaque recording the Sanitation Board's residency to the parapet above, and a porch to the right with stepped groups of lights above. The towers to either side have narrow lights to each floor and battlements with corner chimney stacks. The rear prison range extends slightly to the right beyond the front range, with three storeys and a castellated parapet. The left and right returns contain separate entrances for staff an d public respectively. The staff entrance has short flanking stone walls and squat polygonal piers, and a six-panel door and overlight; the public entrance is blocked with an inserted window. The left return has an attached wall wit0001 Facts
Listed building 1446315 Facts

Available Code Snippets: 

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    "reference": "1446315",
    "prefix": "listed-building-outline",
    "name": "Former Berwick Court House And Prison With Attached Wall And Detached Rear Stable Range",
    "dataset": "listed-building-outline",
    "organisation-entity": "220",
    "start-date": "2017-07-26",
    "end-date": "",
    "entry-date": "2017-07-26",
    "typology": "geography",
    "geometry": "MULTIPOLYGON (((-2.002382 55.772308, -2.002392 55.772305, -2.002356 55.772232, -2.002416 55.772221, -2.002407 55.772195, -2.002442 55.772188, -2.002434 55.772176, -2.002444 55.772163, -2.002439 55.772153, -2.002416 55.772148, -2.00241 55.772135, -2.002377 55.772139, -2.002351 55.772088, -2.002364 55.772086, -2.002355 55.772067, -2.002379 55.772062, -2.002371 55.772052, -2.002382 55.772039, -2.002376 55.772028, -2.002358 55.772023, -2.00235 55.772007, -2.002312 55.772013, -2.002299 55.771987, -2.002239 55.771994, -2.002231 55.771977, -2.002205 55.771967, -2.002149 55.771975, -2.002139 55.771955, -2.00211 55.771948, -2.002072 55.771952, -2.002069 55.771945, -2.001991 55.771957, -2.002116 55.77221, -2.002241 55.772185, -2.002254 55.772213, -2.002301 55.772206, -2.002316 55.772235, -2.002345 55.772231, -2.002382 55.772308)), ((-2.001813 55.771959, -2.001949 55.772261, -2.002046 55.772248, -2.001913 55.771949, -2.001813 55.771959)))",
    "point": "POINT (-2.002135 55.772094)",
    "entity": 42153071,
    "notes": "The listed buildings are shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (`the Act?), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act. Summary of Building Court house and prison with attached wall 1846-1849, to the earlier designs of Thomas Brown; prison range extended 1867 by W J Gray. Building converted to offices 1891-1892 with further C20 and early-C21 alterations. Tudor-Jacobean style. Stable range 1891-1892. Not included in the listing are the single-storey C20/C21 extensions attached to the left and right returns and the former cartshed attached to the north side of the stable. Reasons for Designation The former Berwick Court House and Prison of 1846-1849 by Thomas Brown is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: Architectural interest: * an accomplished courthouse and prison design by the leading Scottish prison designer of the period; * a distinctive composition that has a well-crafted and good quality exterior incorporating several of Brown's trademark features; * it retains a readable original layout in which the three distinct functional spaces (prison, court and domestic accommodation) are clearly defined; * significant internal fixtures remain throughout the building including joinery, fireplaces and plaster work; * it retains a relatively rare survival of an urban stable possessing significant horse-related features including timber mangers and water troughs. Historic interest: * Thomas Brown's only prison commission in England, illustrating the impact of Scottish influence on Berwick's architectural development; * a mid-C19 design that illustrates reformed Scottish principles of prison building that were not widely adopted for local prisons in England until the later C19. Group value: * the building benefits from a functional group value with the listed Old Berwick Jail and the police station and magistrate's court, which taken together represent the development and reform of crime and punishment from the mid-C18 to the early C20; * Berwick court house and prison benefits from spatial group value with a number of surrounding listed buildings lining Wallace Green and The Parade. History As early as 1837 there were proposals to replace the existing C18 Berwick Gaol with a purpose-built court house and prison. Attempts to purchase land in 1841 were unsuccessful but regardless of the lack of a building site, a new building was designed by Thomas Brown of Edinburgh which was to be built by Adam Young of Kelso at a cost of #7000. Original plans (1844) were subsequently amended (1847) after the site on Wallace Green was purchased. Construction on the Wallace Green site began in late 1846 and the building opened on 26 November 1849. This was always a very controversial project with many residents opposing the great extravagance which it was thought would be better spent improving domestic sanitation within the town. The new building is depicted on the 1:528 Berwick Town Plan published in 1855 annotated 'court house and prison': it comprises a front range courthouse and a rear range prison block with a pair of exercise yards. Original plans show the internal configuration of spaces. Within the prison wing female prisoners are housed in a linear range of cells with a washing house and bathroom and a double-cell hospital to the ground floor accessed off a corridor. Male prisoners are housed in a similar arrangement to the upper floors with an open iron gallery to the second floor. The court house range has a ground floor court and a witness waiting room, accessed by a separate public entrance and lobby. Staff rooms including matron's accommodation are accessed off a separate staff entrance and lobby. The first floor is reached via separate staff and public staircases and at its centre is a double-height chapel with adjoining chaplain's room and debtors' rooms. There is also a self-contained keeper's apartment and office, the latter overlooking the prison corridor. The chapel and keeper's apartment extend to the second floor, which also contains the under keeper's room and a store. The building was equipped with an innovative `passive air conditioning? system of heated ventilating shafts. In 1867 the prison wing was extended by local architect W J Gray, resulting in reconstruction of one of the exercise yards. By 1878 the court house and prison had gone out of use and the building was purchased by the town council for #1138; between 1891 and 1892 it was converted to offices for the Urban Sanitary Authority resulting in the insertion of a new entrance through the west elevation and various internal alterations. The rear exercise yards were replaced by a new stable and cartshed with hayloft to facilitate the work of the Sanitary Board. Late-C20 and early-C21 alterations include small single-storey extensions to the south and east elevations and the insertion of some modern openings, doors, lightweight partitions and inserted ceilings to office areas. Thomas Brown (1806-1872) began his architectural career in his father's firm and probably worked in the office of William Burn prior to being appointed as architect to the Prison Board of Scotland in 1837 when he set up an independent office in Edinburgh. He therefore had extensive experience in designing county court houses and prisons and produced standard prison designs, working on more than twenty examples in Scotland, almost all of which are listed. Brown's prisons took on board the suggestions of the prison reformers and were built to reflect contemporary ideas of observation and control, with solitary rather than mass confinement in a hygienic environment and with an emphasis on rehabilitation. Many designs could be easily enlarged by extending the cell corridor. Thomas Brown is the leading prison architect of the C19 in Scotland. Berwick is his only prison and court in England. Details Court house and prison with attached wall 1846-1849, to the earlier designs of Thomas Brown; prison range extended 1867 by W J Gray. Building converted to offices 1891-1892 with further later-C20 and early-C21 alterations. Tudor-Jacobean style. Stable range 1891-1892. MATERIALS: yellow ashlar sandstone to the front range; red sandstone to the rear prison range and stable range. Slate roofs with stone gable copings. PLAN: symmetrical front range comprising court house and associated functions including chapel, and staff accommodation. Attached to the rear is a rectangular prison range, and further to the rear a detached stable range. EXTERIOR: the main west elevation has five wide bays of two storeys and attics under pitched roofs with flat roofs to the end towers. Bays two and four project forward. There are gables over the three centre bays and battlements to the corner towers. Windows are either four-over-four unhorned and horned sashes or one-over-one horned sashes, and all have hood moulds; there are also first floor and eaves strings. Double-height canted bay windows with castellated parapets occupy bays two and four, and the wider central bay has end projections rising to paired polygonal chimneys with a high gable between them and a tall ventilation chimney rising behind. There are paired windows to the ground floor with a plaque recording the Sanitation Board's residency to the parapet above, and a porch to the right with stepped groups of lights above. The towers to either side have narrow lights to each floor and battlements with corner chimney stacks. The rear prison range extends slightly to the right beyond the front range, with three storeys and a castellated parapet. The left and right returns contain separate entrances for staff an d public respectively. The staff entrance has short flanking stone walls and squat polygonal piers, and a six-panel door and overlight; the public entrance is blocked with an inserted window. The left return has an attached wall wit0001",
    "listed-building": "1446315"
}
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