Shire Hall

The assize hearings for the County of Westmorland were held in the then-county town of Appleby, at the Castle until 1670, and then at the Moot Hall until 1778. However, in the early 1770s, the justices decided to commission a dedicated courthouse and the local lord of the manor, Sir James Lowther, agreed to make land available on Bongate (now known as The Sands). The building was extended to the right, i.e. to the southeast, to create an extra bay in 1814. until the abolition of the assize courts under the Courts Act 1971. It then served as the local magistrates court, until the court hearings were transferred in March 1998. The building was subsequently refurbished and converted for use as…