Simon Garrett
The Court House, which now houses the Library, is (by Framlingham standards) a relatively modern building, dating from 1872.
In 1830, Framlingham was chosen as the legal centre for the jurisdiction area of 33 surrounding parishes. Initially, petty sessions were held at The Crown Hotel and at Wickham Market, and from 1847 in the new Corn Hall situated within the yard of The Crown.
In 1872, the Court House was built in Bridge Street. The Court House, a distinguished square-shaped building with a glazed cupola in the centre of its roof, was erected behind the Police House, a private dwelling that had cells erected in the rear in 1847. This latter building was on the site of what is now the Library car park. In the early 20th century, the Police House had stationed there a Police Inspector, a sergeant and two or three constables.
The Court House building consists of various rooms on the ground floor, including holding cells, and on the first floor is the magnificent court room and the judges’ changing room. The court room is on two levels: the raised level for the judge still has the original judges’ 20 foot long oak table.
Judges’ Courts were held in The Court House from 1872 to 1924 when they were moved to Saxmundham.
Magistrates’ Courts (“Petty Sessions”) were held weekly (at one point on Saturday mornings), later fortnightly, then monthly until 1978 when they were also removed to Saxmundham.
Parish Council meetings were held in the Court House from 1894 (when civil Parish Councils were established by the Local Government Act 1894) until 1981. From 1979 to 1984, Mr Lanman’s collection of artefacts (the forerunner of the Lanman Musem) were housed within the upper floors before being removed to The Castle. Between April 2017 and July 2020, Framlingham Town Council offices were located here. The Hour Community now uses the space vacated by the Council.
The building now houses Framlingham Library, one of the 45 sites delivering library services throughout Suffolk, known collectively as Suffolk Libraries, a charity.
Redecorated in early 2022, the magnificent Court Room how hosts a range of art exhibitions, community-based classes and speaker events. It is also available to hire for private functions.
Sources
- Undated documents held by the Library, including recollections from the late Percy Stannard
- https://yourhall.co.uk/hall/framlingham-library/
- https://heritage.suffolk.gov.uk/media/pdfs/framlingham.pdf