Editing Middlesex Guildhall (section)

==History==
[[File:London, The Supreme Court -- 2016 -- 4814.jpg|thumb|upright|Detail of the façade|left]]
The site on the south-western corner of Parliament Square was originally the [[Belfry (architecture)|belfry]] of [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Eiland |first=Murray |date=2012 |title=Postcard from the Supreme Court, London |url=https://www.academia.edu/8013370 |journal=The Armiger's News |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=2–4 |via=academia.edu}}</ref> The first [[guildhall]], designed as an octagon with a Doric portico by [[Samuel Pepys Cockerell]], was built for the justices of the [[City and Liberty of Westminster]] and opened as the "Westminster Sessions House" or "Westminster Guildhall" in 1805.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://collections.soane.org/ARC8433 |title=Sessions House |publisher=Sir John Soane's Museum |access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref>

In 1889 Westminster became part of the [[County of London]], outside of the jurisdiction of the county of [[Middlesex]]. In the division of property between the [[Middlesex County Council|Middlesex]] and [[London County Council|London]] county councils, the guildhall at Westminster went to Middlesex in exchange for the [[Middlesex Sessions House|Sessions House]] in Clerkenwell which went to London. In addition to being a facility for dispensing justice, following the implementation of the [[Local Government Act 1888]], which established county councils in every county, the Guildhall also became the administrative headquarters and meeting place for [[Middlesex County Council]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/51-52/41/enacted |title=Local Government Act 1888 |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=17 August 2019}}</ref>

Middlesex county leaders decided, in the context of their increased responsibilities, that the first Guildhall was inadequate for their purposes, and a second Guildhall, designed by [[F. H. Pownall]] in the neo-Tudor style, was constructed on the site in 1893.<ref name="Middlesex Robbins">{{cite book |series=A New Survey of England |title=Middlesex |author=Robbins, Michael |year=1953 |publisher=Collins}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archiseek.com/2009/1892-guildhall-westminster-london/ |title=1892 – Guildhall, Westminster, London |date=23 July 2009 |publisher=Archiseek |access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref>

After the county leaders found that the second Guildhall was actually too small, the current and third Guildhall, designed by [[James Glen Sivewright Gibson|J. S. Gibson]], was built between 1906 and 1913.<ref name="listed" /> The architectural historian, [[Nikolaus Pevsner]], described the design as "art nouveau gothic style".<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LNwYAAAAYAAJ   |title= London: The cities of London and Westminster (Buildings of England Series)|first1= Nikolaus|last1= Pevsner|first2=Bridget|last2= Cherry|year=1973 |page=513|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0140710120}}</ref> The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of nine bays facing Parliament Square; the central section of three bays which slightly projected forwards, featured an ornate arched doorway with a segmental arched window spanning the first and second floors and a tower above.<ref name="listed" /> A 17th century door, which had originally been part of the [[Tothill Fields Bridewell]] prison, was installed in the basement of the building.<ref name="listed" /> The building was decorated with medieval-style gargoyles and other architectural sculptures by [[Henry Charles Fehr]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/sculpture/fehr/3.html |title=Architectural Sculpture at the Middlesex Guildhall |publisher=Victorian Web |access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref>

Following the implementation of the [[London Government Act 1963]], Middlesex County Council and the Middlesex sessions were abolished in 1965, but the Guildhall continued to be used by the Greater London [[Quarter Sessions]]. After the abolition of the Quarter Sessions in 1972, it was used as a venue of the [[Crown Court]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kensingtonsociety.org/portfolio-item/visit-to-the-supreme-court/ |title=A visit to Britain's newest and highest court – the Supreme Court |publisher=The Kensington Society |date=9 May 2019 |access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref> The Guildhall ceased to be operate as a Crown Court following the completion of new courthouses in London such as [[Harrow Crown Court]], [[Isleworth Crown Court]] and [[One Hans Crescent|Knightsbridge Crown Court]] in the 1980s and 1990s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1996-01-26/debates/24326606-27f4-4596-af08-e5c5019ec7e6/CapitalBuildingProgramme|title=Capital Building Programme|date=26 January 1996|publisher=Hansard|access-date=12 March 2023}}</ref>

The Middlesex Guildhall was closed for refurbishment in 2007 to convert it for use as the site of the new [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] and the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]. The Supreme Court, established in law by the [[Constitutional Reform Act 2005]], started operations on 1 October 2009.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2009/07/from-house-of-lords-to-supreme-court/ |title=From House of Lords to Supreme Court |publisher=UK Parliament |date=23 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013192241/https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2009/07/from-house-of-lords-to-supreme-court/ |access-date=19 August 2019 |archive-date=13 October 2010}}</ref>