{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox building |name = Manchester Assize Courts |image = The Assize Courts, Manchester (crop).jpg |image_size = |caption = |highest_region = |highest_start = |highest_prev = |highest_end = |highest_next = |location = Strangeways, Manchester, Lancashire |coordinates = {{coord|53.4918|-2.2481|display=inline,title|region:GB|format=dms}} |pushpin_map = |status = Demolished |construction_start_date = 1859 |completion_date = 1864 |demolished_date = 1957 <small>(ruins from the Manchester Blitz) </small> |opening_date = |building_type = Venetian Gothic |antenna_spire = {{convert|85|m|ft|abbr=on}} |roof = {{convert|80|m|ft|abbr=on}} |top_floor = |floor_count = |elevator_count = |cost = |floor_area = 7 |architect = Alfred Waterhouse |structural_engineer = |main_contractor = |developer = |owner = |operator = }} The '''Manchester Assize Courts''' was a building housing law courts on Great Ducie Street in the Strangeways district of Manchester, England. It was {{convert|279|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} tall and from 1864 to 1877 the tallest building in Manchester. Widely admired,<ref>{{cite news |title=Assize Courts, Manchester |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/waterhouse/5.html |work=victorianweb.org |accessdate=2011-11-07}}</ref> it has been referred to as one of Britain's 'lost buildings'.<ref>{{cite news |title=One way to help our broken society – rebuild our cities destroyed by post-war vandals |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100054856/one-way-to-help-our-broken-society-rebuild-our-cities-destroyed-by-post-war-vandals/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926104357/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100054856/one-way-to-help-our-broken-society-rebuild-our-cities-destroyed-by-post-war-vandals/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 September 2010 |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=23 September 2010 |accessdate=2011-11-07}}</ref> It was severely damaged by wartime bombing in the Manchester Blitz, and then the remains were demolished in 1957.
==History== The Assize Courts was the first civic building to be constructed in Manchester after the town hall on King Street by Francis Goodwin in 1819. ''The Builder'' described it as the most important building outside Whitehall.<ref name="ParkinsonBailey2000">Parkinson-Bailey (2000), p 100.</ref> Its design was the result of a competition in 1858 that attracted more than 100 entries. The competition was won by Alfred Waterhouse whose design beat schemes from other renowned architects such as Thomas Worthington and Edward Walters.<ref name="ParkinsonBailey2000"/>
Waterhouse designed the building in the Venetian Gothic style; construction began in 1859 and was completed in 1864. The nearby 1862 Strangeways Prison was included in his design as part of the scheme; it is a Grade II listed structure.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Main prison block of HMP Manchester|num=1254636|grade=II}}</ref>
The building contained exterior sculptures by Thomas Woolner and the firm of O'Shea and Whelan. They depicted lawgivers from history, along with a "drunk woman", a "good woman", a scene of the Judgment of Solomon and carvings depicting different punishments throughout history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk/buildings/manchester-assize-courts-great-ducie-street-strangeways|title=Manchester Assize Courts Great Ducie Street Strangeways|publisher= The Manchester Group of the Victorian Society|access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref>
As part of the court system changes, the assize court system in Manchester was abolished in 1956 and changed to the Crown Court system.<ref>{{cite web |title=Criminal trials in the assize courts 1559-1971 |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/assizes-criminal-1559-1971.htm |work=National Archives |accessdate=2012-11-14}}</ref> The courts building was severely damaged in the Manchester Blitz in 1940 and 1941. It was said that everything was destroyed except the Great Ducie Street facade and the judges' lodgings.<ref>Parkinson-Bailey (2000), p. 102</ref> Some war-damaged buildings in the city were repaired, but Manchester Assize Courts was demolished in 1957, soon after the assize court abolition. Some of the sculptures were preserved and incorporated into the new Crown Court building on Crown Square.<ref name=Hartwell>Hartwell (2002) p.248.</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="180px"> File:Assize.jpg|Illustration of the Assize Courts from Charles Eastlake's ''History of the Gothic Revival'' Assize Courts, Manchester.jpg|Alternative view File:Manchester Assize Courts, Interior (crop).jpg|Image of interior </gallery>
==See also== *Assize court
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== *{{Cite book |title=Manchester: An Architectural History |last=Parkinson-Bailey |first=John |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2000|isbn=978-0719056062}} *{{Cite book |title=Pevsner Architecture Guides: Manchester |last=Hartwell |first=Clare |year=2002 |publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300096668}}
==External links== *[http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/Display.php?irn=25063&QueryPage=%2F Photo of the courts] *[http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/Display.php?irn=32642&QueryPage=%2F Photo of the courts being demolished] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20081201155444/http://www.thorngent.eclipse.co.uk/strangeways/thesis6.htm More on the History of the area of Strangeways]
Category:Government buildings completed in 1864 Category:Alfred Waterhouse buildings Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Manchester Category:Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed during World War II Category:Former buildings and structures in Manchester Category:History of Manchester Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1957