1740-1875 The first court at Bow Street was established in 1740, when Colonel Sir
Thomas de Veil, a Westminster justice, sat as a
magistrate in his home at number 4. De Veil was succeeded by novelist and playwright
Henry Fielding in 1747. He was appointed a magistrate for the
City of Westminster in 1748, at a time when the problem of
gin consumption and resultant crime was at its height. There were eight licensed premises in the street and Fielding reported that every fourth house in Covent Garden was a gin shop. In 1749, in response to calls to find an effective means to tackle increasing crime and disorder, Fielding brought together eight reliable
constables, known as "Mr Fielding's People", Among those tried at the court was
Giacomo Casanova. The early 19th century saw a dramatic increase in number and scope of the police based at Bow Street with the 1805 formation of the Bow Street Horse Patrole, which covered to the edge of London and was the first uniformed police unit in Britain, and in 1821 the Dismounted Horse Patrole which covered suburban areas. A
Metropolitan Police station was also established at numbers 25 and 27 soon after the force was established in 1829. Officers were sent from there to police the
Coldbath Fields riot in 1833.
1876-1991 - Court In 1876
the Duke of Bedford let a site on the eastern side of Bow Street to the
Commissioners of HM Works and Public Buildings for a new combined magistrates' court and police station at an annual rent of £100. Work on the current building to a design by the Office of Works' surveyor
Sir John Taylor began in 1878 and was completed in 1881—the date 1879 in the stonework above the door of the present building is when it had been hoped that work would finish.
Historic England's listing entry describes the architectural style as "dignified, eclectic
Graeco-Roman with some slightly
Vanbrughian details, rather in the
Pennethorne manner." He added: In its later years, the court housed the office of the Senior District Judge (Magistrates' Courts), who heard high-profile matters, such as extradition cases or those involving eminent public figures. Many famous accused people appeared in the court, often before
committal for trial at the Central Criminal Court,
Old Bailey or at other
Crown Court centres, or when being held on extradition or terrorism charges. These included: •
Roger Casement •
Dr Crippen •
Abu Hamza al-Masri •
William Joyce • The
Kray twins •
Emmeline and
Christabel Pankhurst •
General Pinochet •
John Cyril Porte •
Oscar Wilde 1876-1992 - Station Meanwhile, the police station was highly active.
Officers there went on strike in 1890,
Marie Lloyd reported an assault there in 1892 and the station was threatened in the 1939
S-Plan terrorist campaign. Police from the station clashed with
Commonwealth soldiers in 1919 and
striking workers in 1931. Notable prisoners brought into its cells immediately after arrest included
Clara Lambert,
Cunninghame Graham MP and
Bruno Manser, whilst noted officers there included
Norwell Roberts,
Robert Holmes,
Yvonne Fletcher and future commissioners
Joseph Simpson and
Peter Imbert.
1992-present As part of the 1993
Covent Garden Festival a performance of
Gilbert and Sullivan's
Trial by Jury of 1875 took place in Court No. 1. The
listed status of the building meant that it was not economic to update it to modern standards. It was accordingly considered for closure, enabling better use of a building that faces the front of the
Royal Opera House. The police station closed in 1992, its area and that of
Canon Row merging to form the area covered by the new
Charing Cross Police Station. In 2004 the court was put up for sale by its joint owners, the Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority and the
Metropolitan Police Authority. In July 2005 the site was bought by property developer Gerry Barrett to convert into a
boutique hotel, The court's remaining cases moved to
Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court which itself closed in 2011, when its work moved to the old Marylebone Court House and renamed
Westminster Magistrates' Court. In 2008 the Bow Street site was sold to Austrian developers who obtained
planning permission for a hotel and police museum, while maintaining the facade of the old court building. In October 2016 the site was sold on again, to the UK arm of Qatari investment firm BTC, who used the existing planning permission. A 91-room hotel, run by the New York-based
NoMad chain, opened in May 2021, as did a public restaurant and a
museum of London police history. == References ==