Perhaps you’ve heard a tale or two. Today we stand before the Croydon Law Courts. This is a place where justice is served.
The Croydon Law Courts is located on Altyre Road in Croydon. It’s a Crown Court venue. Criminal cases are dealt with here. It also functions as a County Court venue. This means civil cases are heard here too. An older magistrates’ court building sits nearby on Barclay Road.
Let’s journey back to the 19th and 20th centuries. The Surrey county assizes were once held in Croydon Town Hall. By the 1960s, public pressure grew for dedicated court facilities in Croydon. The Lord Chancellor’s Department responded. They commissioned a combined courts center on Barclay Road. The chosen site was open land. This area was known as Fair Field. It had been used for fairs and performances in the 19th century.
The foundation stone for the Barclay Road building was laid in 1966. Lord Gardiner did the honors. Robert Atkinson & Partners designed it. The style was modernist using concrete and glass. It was completed in 1968.
The design featured a symmetrical main frontage. It had three sections facing Barclay Road. The central section had alternating bands of glass and concrete. A large concrete panel displayed a Royal coat of arms. This was cantilevered over the entrance. There was much debate about seating in the courtrooms. Flip-up seats, benches, or swivel chairs were all considered.
As Croydon’s court cases increased, more space was needed. A new courthouse was commissioned. The site selected was on Altyre Road. It was next to the existing law courts. Only the Thameslink railway line separated them. The Property Services Agency designed the new building. It was built in buff stone. The cost was £15.2 million. Construction finished in 1991.
The design included an asymmetrical main frontage. It had three sections facing Altyre Road. The central section was recessed. A canted wall connected it to the left section. This wall featured a glass entrance with a stone canopy. To its left was a polygon-shaped tower. A Royal coat of arms topped the tower. The right-hand section also featured a tower. Small square casement windows punctuated the first and second floors. A continuous row of casement windows lined the third floor. The complex was designed to hold eleven courtrooms. The Crown Court and County Court moved to the new building. This allowed the Barclay Road building to be used by the magistrates’ courts.
Croydon Law Courts has seen some notable cases. The taxi driver John Worboys was tried and convicted here in 2009. He was found guilty of rape and assault. His victims were twelve female passengers. After the 2011 England riots, the Ministry of Justice experimented with shift work here. This was to clear the backlog of court cases.
Today, the Croydon Law Courts continues to serve. It stands as a testament to the evolving needs of justice in our community. It is a place where important decisions are made every day.