(The Royal Courts of Justice circa 1890. Now it's just my "office". Well, one room anyway!)
The charity for which I work is based in the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) on a street called the Strand in London. They are the largest civil courts in England and Wales, and the home of the High Court and Court of Appeal.
The RCJ is neo-gothic in character, the final large building in this style in London joining its illustrious cousins the Palace of Westminster, Tower Bridge and St. Pancras Station in 1882. It was designed by George Edmund Street, who was a practising solicitor before becoming an architect. The old courtrooms are priceless antiques in themselves, and are still in use today. The building's crowning glory must be the Great Hall. Resembling a gothic nave, its 80ft high vaulted ceiling shelters fantastic stained glass windows and is supported by 12 elegant columns. Pictures really do not do the Great Hall justice(!) and I recommend a visit the next time you find yourself in central London.
I do not think that English and Welsh legal costume would survive without buildings like this. Indeed it is here that gowned, bewigged practitioners of the law seem appropriately dressed in the courts and corridors. There is no doubt that the character of the place combined with the strange costumes is intimidating to many, but this character also underlines the seriousness of proceedings and allows observers to easily distinguish between people's different roles in the court.
The RCJ is open to the public Monday - Friday 9am - 4.30pm. Members of the public can watch all proceedings not marked "private" on the court door.
I don't think that anyone would deny that the "Law Courts" suffer from accessibility problems. There are miles of corridors. There are only three or four lifts, meaning that if you are in a wheelchair distances are often doubled as you must go via one of these lifts. However most parts of the building are accessible to disabled people and English Heritage and the Courts Service are doing a great job in keeping the RCJ a working building, serving the purpose it was designed for.
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