The archaeologist, John Russell, has suggested that the site might have previously been occupied by a medievalguildhall, which would have operated independently of St Mary's Guildhall.[2]
The current building was designed by Samuel Eglinton in the neo-classical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1783.[3] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Cuckoo Lane. The ground floor was rusticated, while the first floor was fenestrated with sash windows with architraves and cornices. The central section of three bays, which was slightly projected forward, featured a tetrastyleportico on the first floor. The portico was formed by Doric order columns supporting an entablature, a cornice and a pediment. Internally, the principal room was the main courtroom.[1]
Land adjacent to the building was used as a gaol and a prison governor's house was attached to the building.[4][5] The courthouse was used as the venue for the assizes in Coventry from 1843,[6] although Coventry ceased to be a county in its own right under the Boundary Act 1847.[3]
Notable cases included the trial and conviction of Mary Ball, in 1849, for poisoning her husband. She was hanged outside the court – the last person to be hanged there – in the presence of over 20,000 spectators.[7][8][9]
The courts moved to the Coventry Combined Court Centre on Much Park Street in 1988[10] and the building subsequently lay empty until it was bought for use as a bar in 2000.[2] The interior was redesigned although aspects of the courthouse such as the judge's chair and public gallery were left untouched.[11][12]
