The Justiciary Courts (as depicted here by Robert Scott in 1821)were designed by William Stark and erected at the foot of Saltmarket 1809-1814. The building originally housed the city's municipal offices and 122 prison cells, as well as court rooms. The open area in front of the building was used as the site of public executions until 1865, giving rise to an old Glasgow warning "You'll die facing the monument" - prisoners were hanged facing the Nelson Monument on Glasgow Green. The last man to be executed there was the infamous poisoner Dr Pritchard.
The building was remodelled in 1845 after the municipal offices moved to the City and County Buildings in Wilson Street and reconstructed (with the addition of a second court room) in 1910-1913.
Reference: Mitchell Library GC 914.1435 GLA (1821)
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries, Information and Learning
Keywords:
court houses, courts of law, gaols, High Courts, jails, Justiciary Courts, municipal offices, poisoners, prisons, public executions, public hangings
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