The Sessions House where Shipman and Venables were tried

The Sessions House is a courthouse on Harris Street in Preston, Lancashire, England. Designed by Henry Littler in the Edwardian Baroque style, the building was constructed by David Tullis and Sons and opened on 18 June 1904. The masonry is Longridge stone throughout. The building was commissioned to replace the old Sessions House on Stanley Street, which had been built in 1829 and was found to be inadequate.

Construction began with the laying of the foundation stone by Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, on 2 February 1900. The cost was estimated at the start of construction to be £90,000, which is the equivalent of more than £9 million in 2023. The design features a symmetrical main frontage of thirteen bays facing Harris Street, including a central section with a balcony and huge Ionic order columns spanning the second and third floors. A four-stage tower rises to 54.7 metres (179.5 ft), making it one of the tallest buildings in Preston.

Cases heard within the sessions house have included the trials and subsequent convictions of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson for the murder of James Bulger in November 1993 and of Harold Shipman for the murder of 15 patients under his care in January 2000.

Today, the building remains in use for judicial purposes as well as administrative offices for His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. It houses two courtrooms on the first floor used daily by Preston Crown Court, two smaller courtrooms on the ground floor used by the County Court and the Family Court, and the Courts Service Area Director's office for Lancashire and Cumbria.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons