{{short description|Municipal building in Boston, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Use British English|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox historic site | name = Boston Sessions House | native_name = | image =Boston - Sessions House (geograph 6684203).jpg | caption= Boston Sessions House | locmapin =Lincolnshire | map_caption =Shown in Lincolnshire | coordinates ={{coord| 52.9793|-0.0248|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} | location = Church Close, Boston | area = | built =1842 | architect = Charles Kirk | architecture = Gothic revival style | designation1 =Grade II* Listed Building | designation1_offname = Boston Sessions House | designation1_date =14 February 1975 | designation1_number = 1388845 | website= }} '''Boston Sessions House''' is a judicial structure in Church Close, Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The structure, which used to be the main courthouse for the north of Parts of Holland, is a Grade II* listed building.<ref name=listed>{{NHLE|num=1388845|desc= Boston Sessions House |access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref>
==History== The first venue for the quarter sessions in Boston was the Guildhall which had been used for that purpose since 1660. However, in the 1830s, the justices complained that the guildhall was too small for them and it was agreed to commission a new sessions house. The site they selected, just to the north of St Botolph's Church, had been occupied by an Augustine priory.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OU1gAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA290 |title= History, gazetteer, and directory of Lincolnshire, and the city and diocese of Lincoln |first= William |last=White|year=1856 |page=290|publisher=R. Leader}}</ref>
The new building was the designed by Charles Kirk from Sleaford, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £10,000 and was officially opened on 17 October 1843.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jqLCNLAOJ6YC&pg=PA211 |title= The History and Antiquities of Boston And the Villages of Skirbeck, Fishtoft, Freiston, Butterwick, Benington, Leverton, Leake, and Wrangle; Comprising the Hundred of Skirbeck, in the County of Lincoln |first= Pishey |last=Thompson |year=1856|page=216|publisher=Longman and Co}}</ref> The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing Church Close. The central section of three bays featured an arched doorway flanked by two bi-partite mullioned and transomed windows, all with traceried panels above; on the first floor there was a large tri-partite mullioned and transomed window flanked by two bi-partite mullioned and transomed windows. The bays were separated by buttresses surmounted by statues of lions and, at roof level, there was a crenellated parapet which was decorated by a panel bearing the Royal coat of arms. The end bays, which were projected forward, took the form of three-stage towers with doorways in the first stage, oriel windows in the second stage and pairs of narrow windows in the third stage; the towers were also surmounted by crenellated parapets. Internally, the principal rooms were the prison cells on the ground floor, a magistrates' retiring room on the first floor and a strong room on the second floor: the main courtroom was at the back of the building.<ref name=listed/>
The building continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of Holland County Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/51-52/41/enacted|title=Local Government Act 1888|publisher=Legislation.gov.uk|accessdate=17 August 2019}}</ref> After the county council moved to a dedicated building known as County Hall, which was erected on the same site just to southeast of the sessions house in 1927, the sessions house was used solely for judicial purposes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://localhistories.org/a-history-of-boston-lincolnshire/ |title=A History of Boston, Lincolnshire|date=14 March 2021 |publisher=Local Histories| access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.visitoruk.com/Boston/20th-century-T23.html |title=Timeline History of Boston|publisher=Visitor UK| access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref>
The building fell vacant after the magistrates moved to a new courthouse in Norfolk Street in 2003.<ref name=listed/> In 2016, developers, Paul and Amy Wilkinson took possession of the whole site (including the sessions hall, county hall and county hall annex) with a view to converting the buildings for alternative use.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.lincolnshireworld.com/news/conversion-plans-for-county-hall-788579 |title= Conversion plans for county hall|date=12 March 2016|newspaper=Lincolnshire World| access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.lincolnshirelife.co.uk/heritage/preserving-a-treasured-townscape/ |title=Preserving a treasured townscape|newspaper=Lincolnshire Life|date=1 December 2016| access-date=28 August 2022}}</ref> Works to convert the prison cells in the sessions house into a gym were initiated in February 2020.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2020/02/bostons-historic-sessions-house-cells-to-become-training-gym/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210516173829/https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2020/02/bostons-historic-sessions-house-cells-to-become-training-gym/ |url-status= usurped |archive-date= 16 May 2021 |title= Boston's historic Sessions House cells to become training gym|date=17 February 2020|newspaper=The Lincolite| access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/plans-agreed-turn-180-year-3858380|title=Plans agreed to turn 180-year-old jail cells at Grade II listed court building in Boston into gym|date=21 February 2020|newspaper=Lincolnshire Live|access-date=12 May 2024}}</ref> The sessions house featured in the ITV drama series, ''Wild Bill'', in 2019.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.lincolnshireworld.com/news/people/top-filming-locations-in-lincolnshire-3228260 |title=Top filming locations in Lincolnshire|date=9 May 2021|newspaper=Lincolnshire World|access-date=12 May 2024}}</ref>
==See also== * Grade II* listed buildings in Boston (borough) * Spalding Sessions House (built to a very similar design)
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Government buildings completed in 1842 Category:County halls in England Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Lincolnshire Category:Boston, Lincolnshire Category:Court buildings in England Category:Buildings and structures in Boston, Lincolnshire