page_title: Snaresbrook Crown Court
section_title: Crown Court
hierarchical_section_title: Snaresbrook Crown Court / History / Crown Court
caption_attribution_description: English: Snaresbrook Crown Court from a south view
context_page_description: Snaresbrook Crown Court is a historic, Grade II listed building situated in Snaresbrook, an area within the London Borough of Redbridge. It is one of 12 Crown Courts serving Greater London and is designated as a third-tier court. It is set within 18 acres of grounds and has its own lake, known as Eagle Pond. It operates 20 court rooms and manages 7,000 cases a year, making it the busiest Crown Court in the United Kingdom.
  Construction of the building began in 1841 and finished two years later. It was built to a design by the English architects George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Moffatt, who at that time we're prolific designers of workhouses and hospitals and churches. Snaresbrook Crown Court was originally built as an orphanage at the behest of the philanthropist Andrew Reed who named it the Infant Orphanage Asylum; later it became the Royal National Children's Foundation. Under various titles, it remained an orphanage until 1938 when it became the Royal Wanstead School. The building continued as a school until 1971, although plans were in place by the mid-1960s for it to become a court.
  The building opened as a Crown Court on 26 November 1974.
context_section_description: With the school winding down by the mid 1960s, work began on converting certain sections of the building into a court. It opened, as such, on 1 April 1965 when the first case was heard. The building had one judge and a group of 12 staff who managed 325 cases within the first year. The building received Grade II listed status on 11 November 1968.
  Snaresbrook Crown Court was officially opened on 26 November 1974 by Lord Widgery, who was, at that time, Lord Chief Justice. Further improvements were made to the site between 1976 and 1979, but in November 1981 a fire destroyed three courtrooms and damaged two others. Renovations were made, and by 1988, five more court rooms, including a separate annex, built to a cost of £3m, had been added, bringing the total to 20. The court manages around 7,000 cases a year, making it the busiest Crown Court in the United Kingdom.
caption: View of the court from Eagle Pond
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