Durham Crown Court

The original venue for the assize courts in Durham was the old Shire Hall, also known as the County House, beside Palace Green; this "inconvenient building" had been established by Bishop John Cosin in the 1660s. In the early 19th century, it was decided to commission a more substantial courthouse; the site chosen, on the south side of Old Elvet, had been granted by Bishop William de St-Calais to the Prior and Convent of Durham in the late 11th century. The building was designed by George Moneypenny and Ignatius Bonomi in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was officially opened on 14 August 1811. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of seven bays facing north onto…