Two places certainly have
inspired my research and also fuelled my imagination.
One of these is of course Lewes crown
court. I have already talked about the openness and friendliness of the
judiciary and staff on a previous page. In addition I found the old courtroom
environment at Lewes inspiring. Although my research focuses mainly on what is
happening today in the crown court, I am also interested in the history of the
adversarial trial and the role judges used to play in it. The court was built
during the early 19th century. This was also a time when the
adversarial jury trial became more firmly established.[1]
To my delight I was able to experience a little bit the atmosphere
of the past time in the Lewes court. One of the old courtrooms was used for an
opera on a 19th century jury trial. For this occasion we could
sit in the upper public gallery which is usually closed. I was lucky to be
filmed there, which was later shown in the news. This is unusual since at
regular court sitting times no cameras are allowed in there. Now I have
got some footage of myself inside Lewes Crown Court.
The Judges Lodging in Presteigne http://www.judgeslodging.org.uk/ is another
place which has been of interest and inspiration to my work.
It
is an unusual museum of a place where judges used to stay at the assizes during
the 19th century, restored to its original furniture and
features. The house has also an inbuilt courtroom and prisoner cells.The
court house in Presteigne was built during the same period as Lewes Crown
Court. But there are striking differences to the architecture of the courtrooms.
The shape of the courtroom in Presteigne is round and it is very modestly
furnished. The two old courtrooms in Lewes by contrast are square and
relatively opulent. (See images below) They are still in use today.
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| Courtroom in the Judgees Lodging, Prestigene |
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| Courtroom at Lewes Crown Court |
See Langbein (2003) The origins of Adversary Criminal Trial
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