The Judges Lodgings, Aylesbury
The Judges Lodgings was built in 1849-50 by E.B. Lamb to provide accommodation for the Assize judges on their visits to Aylesbury. It is a spacious four-storey building connected to the court rooms in the County Hall by an overhead passage. Judges continued to stay there until the abolition of the Assize courts in 1971.
The Judges Lodgings is a building of character which has stood for over 150 years in the centre of Aylesbury. The contents of the building reveal an interesting history of the judicial and civil administration of the county which is being preserved and maintained for succeeding generations.
The Site The building stands on part of the site of the old County Hall, court and gaol, erected between 1720 and 1740. When a new county gaol was built on Bierton Hill in 1847, it was decided that the old gaol should be demolished and part of the site used to build a lodging for the Assize judges. Prior to this judges had to be found quarters in private houses. The County Hall was left standing and is now used as the Crown Court.
The Assizes The county assizes took place twice-yearly for the trial of prisoners held in the gaol and the hearing of civil pleas. The status and economic benefits conferred by the assizes led to intense rivalry between Buckingham and Aylesbury, both of which laid claim to being the Aylesbury from Court Farm Fields by N. Whittock, c1840. The County county town. In 1849 an Act was passed awarding both Hall is the red brick building on the upper right hand side. assizes to Aylesbury.
Judges who used the Lodgings in the 20th century included eminent legal names, among them Norman (later Lord) Birkett, Lord Chief Justice Parker and future Lord Chief Justices Goddard, Widgery and Lane. Perhaps the most famous assizes for which the Lodgings was used was the trial of the Great Train Robbers at Special Assizes in 1964 before Mr Justice Edmund Davies. The last occasion on which the Lodgings was used for the intended purpose was for the final Buckinghamshire Assizes, the Autumn Assizes of 1970.
The Architect Edward Buckton Lamb (1806-1869) is noted for an eclectic, eccentric and picturesque approach to architecture. His obituary in The Builder a ha he constantly endeavoured, even at the expense of beauty, o e hibi originali .
Guide to the Building
Much of the furniture is early Victorian in style and was supplied by Messrs Thomas Charles Druce and Co. of the Baker Street Bazaar, London, for the opening of the building in 1850. The Judges Lodgings also contains numerous paintings and engravings which depict local dignitaries or Buckinghamshire scenes.
Entrance
Immediately inside the entrance, on the left, is a stone plaque which records that the b ilding con aining he Machinery necessary for providing Labour for the convicts in this Gaol a erec ed in 1818. This refers to a giant treadwheel, 21 feet in diameter, which was operated by those convicts sentenced to hard labour.
The stairs to the first-floor are lined with official photographs of Chairmen of Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) since 2001. A board listing all the former Chairmen of the Council is displayed on the first-floor landing in the alcove
First-floor Landing To the left are two large oil paintings: Bucolic scene (neo-classical) with man, two women, two children and animals Portrait of the 2nd Lord Carrington (1796-1868), Lord Lieutenant 1839- 1868 Between the two paintings is a bas-relief stone swan from 14th or 15th centuries which was the keystone of the archway at the entrance to the old gaol in Walton Street.
Above the doorway to Room 3 is: Portrait of Gillian M. M. Miscampbell, Chairman of Buckinghamshire County Council 1989-1993, by James Orr
To the far right of the landing i a maiden head from a Roman gravestone at Neumagen, Germany, dated from 2AD. It was presented by the President of the Bezirksregierung of Trier in 1989. On the walls flanking it are engravings of local places including High Wycombe, Burnham Priory and Gregories, Beaconsfield. Also on display are the arms of Buckinghamshire County Council, which were granted in 1948. The coat of arms of the borough of Buckingham is also displayed.
The hat, coat and wig stands and the set of scrolled, shield-backed chairs are presumed to be contemporary with the building, as is the rosewood veneer card-table on a four-footed pedestal, the top of which unfolds to reveal a rose baize playing circle and swivels to reveal a drawer for gaming equipment.
Room 1 (Small Dining Room)
This room contains an 18th-century edition of John Speed map of B ckingham hire, 1610. The insets include a plan of the town of Buckingham.
The mantel clock is by Aylesbury clock-maker Thomas White Field and dates from c1860.
The walls contain engravings and photographs of past Prime Ministers and other prominent figures with Buckinghamshire connections.
Paintings include: