1. The History
Located less than 1km to the south-west of Grantham town centre, the former office building on Harlaxton Road was repurposed as a magistrate’s court following a successful Change of Use application in March 1992 and alterations the following year.
After functioning as a court for over thirty years, it finally closed its doors in 2016 as part of a UK-wide plan to close 86 courts in England and Wales. All cases were moved to either Lincoln or Boston. It had previously been reported by the Ministry of Justice that the court cost £237,000 to run during the previous year and this was behind its closure. Grantham solicitors weren’t so happy about the decision and voiced their “anger and sadness” about the decision.
The Government sold-off the site in January for £560,000 to a private buyer in January 2017. It was then subsequently put on the property market for a cool £1.25m, and then withdrawn in June 2018. Plans for redevelopment of the site were submitted in August 2019 and granted permission in December 2019. Hence the former magistrates’ court, described as being of “limited architectural merit”, is now in the midst of being demolished to make way for a new £3.5 million two-storey, 55 bedroom care home, creating employment for approximately 70 local people on both a full-time and part-time basis.
The courts while still in use:
2. The Explore
Totally random opportunist explore. Think I’d vaguely clocked that this place was empty, but it didn’t really register. Was passing recently, having been to the cinema, and noticed that demolition on it had started. Fortunately had my camera and torches so decided to go for a quick reccie which turned into an explore. It was easy enough to get on-site and the demo meant that getting in the building wasn't that difficult either. Looking at old pictures its clear that a sizeable chunk (probably about half in total) to the right of the main door has already been knocked down. To be honest though, the bit that was formerly offices isn’t that interesting. It’s the extension from 1993 at the back to house the court itself and the holding cells which are the interesting bits. And given these were pretty much untouched, it still made for a decent explore. So, an opportunist explore and not the best pictures as the light was starting to fade a little. I guess this may be the first and last report on this place as the demo will most likely be complete within the next week or so.
3. The Pictures
View from the street:
The old signs:
And we’re in:
The modern front part is pretty uninspiring:
But Court No.1 is what we’re after:
The defendant's ‘cage’:
And then the holding cells for the accused:
The cells are pretty much one star:
Pretty hefty cell doors (note they’ve reclaimed the locks):
Finally, the visiting area. Inside:
And outside:
Located less than 1km to the south-west of Grantham town centre, the former office building on Harlaxton Road was repurposed as a magistrate’s court following a successful Change of Use application in March 1992 and alterations the following year.
After functioning as a court for over thirty years, it finally closed its doors in 2016 as part of a UK-wide plan to close 86 courts in England and Wales. All cases were moved to either Lincoln or Boston. It had previously been reported by the Ministry of Justice that the court cost £237,000 to run during the previous year and this was behind its closure. Grantham solicitors weren’t so happy about the decision and voiced their “anger and sadness” about the decision.
The Government sold-off the site in January for £560,000 to a private buyer in January 2017. It was then subsequently put on the property market for a cool £1.25m, and then withdrawn in June 2018. Plans for redevelopment of the site were submitted in August 2019 and granted permission in December 2019. Hence the former magistrates’ court, described as being of “limited architectural merit”, is now in the midst of being demolished to make way for a new £3.5 million two-storey, 55 bedroom care home, creating employment for approximately 70 local people on both a full-time and part-time basis.
The courts while still in use:
2. The Explore
Totally random opportunist explore. Think I’d vaguely clocked that this place was empty, but it didn’t really register. Was passing recently, having been to the cinema, and noticed that demolition on it had started. Fortunately had my camera and torches so decided to go for a quick reccie which turned into an explore. It was easy enough to get on-site and the demo meant that getting in the building wasn't that difficult either. Looking at old pictures its clear that a sizeable chunk (probably about half in total) to the right of the main door has already been knocked down. To be honest though, the bit that was formerly offices isn’t that interesting. It’s the extension from 1993 at the back to house the court itself and the holding cells which are the interesting bits. And given these were pretty much untouched, it still made for a decent explore. So, an opportunist explore and not the best pictures as the light was starting to fade a little. I guess this may be the first and last report on this place as the demo will most likely be complete within the next week or so.
3. The Pictures
View from the street:
The old signs:
And we’re in:
The modern front part is pretty uninspiring:
But Court No.1 is what we’re after:
The defendant's ‘cage’:
And then the holding cells for the accused:
The cells are pretty much one star:
Pretty hefty cell doors (note they’ve reclaimed the locks):
Finally, the visiting area. Inside:
And outside:
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