Shire Hall Monmouth

The present Shire Hall is at least the fourth building to be on this site.  The first buildings were also Courthouses and market halls.

In 1723 the Magistrates agreed that a new court was needed and decided to demolish the court house, built in 1571 by Philip Jones, and build new Courts.

In 1724 the Courts of Assize were transferred to the two Courtrooms at the front of the present building, on the first floor over the market arches below. The Jury room was on the ground floor, in the area at present used as the Tourist Office.

In 1829 there were many internal alterations, it included a grandiose new staircase, rearranged courts, a new cupola and plasterwork, and an extension along Agincourt Street.

The extension is the present Community Room with the Town Council Chamber and Mayors Parlour above on the first floor, including the wooden staircase at the rear of the building.

The Chartist trial began in Shire Hall on New Year’s Eve 1839. Three Chartists were condemned to death, and on 16 January 1840, they were brought from Monmouth gaol to hear the sentence:

lsquo; That you, John Frost, and you, Zephaniah Williams, and you William Jones, be taken hence to the place from whence you came, and be thence drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, and that each of you be there hanged by the neck until you be dead and that afterwards the head of each of you shall be severed from his body, and the body of each of you, divided into four quarters, shall be disposed of as Her Majesty shall think fit. May Almighty God have mercy upon your souls.’

Their lives were saved by the Lord Chief Justice, who had presided over the trial, advising the Home Secretary to change the sentence to transportation for life.

The Shire Hall was designed by Phillip Fisher.

The clock was made by Richard Watkins in 1765.

The statue of Henry V by Charles Peart erected in 1792.

The Statue of Charles Rolls was made by Goscombe John and the plinth was designed by Aston Webb.

The Magistrates Court closed in December 1997 and the County Court closed in March 2002.