County Court, Manchester

Former County Court, Quay Street

The County Court in Quay Street, Manchester, England, is a former Victorian courthouse which was the home of the politician and reformer Richard Cobden and subsequently the site of Owen's College, the forerunner of the University of Manchester. In origin it is a townhouse of the 1770s, "the best preserved Georgian house in the [city] centre".^[1] The house is of "brick with a late nineteenth century doorcase".^[1] It was designated a Grade II* listed building on 3 October 1974.^[2] The interior is not original.

Richard Cobden lived at the house from 1836 to 1850, and it was his base during the years he acted as the main spokesman for the Anti-Corn Law League. A statue of him, together with one of his fellow reformers John Bright, stands in Albert Square.

The house subsequently became the site of Owens College, which, together with the Royal Manchester School of Medicine, became the University of Manchester in 1872.^[1] When the university moved to its present site on Oxford Road in 1873, the building was bought for use as Manchester's County Court, which opened in 1878.^[1] By the 1970s the building had become badly decayed, and first the courts and then the administrative offices were relocated. The court was finally closed in 1990. It was subsequently purchased for use as a set of barristers' chambers and has been comprehensively refurbished, with much of its original Georgian decor restored.^[3]

Plaque commemorating Richard Cobden and Owens College

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Hartwell 2001, p 253
2. ^ http://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-456845-county-court-manchester
3. ^ http://www.cobden.co.uk/aboutus/history/

References

• Hartwell, Clare (2001), Manchester, Pevsner Architectural Guides, London: Penguin, ISBN 0-14-071131-7 

Coordinates: 53°28′43″N 2°15′08″W / 53.4786°N 2.2521°W / 53.4786; -2.2521