County Hall, Coventry
County Hall is a historic former courthouse in Coventry's Cathedral Quarter. It is a Grade II* listed building. History. The building, which was designed by Samuel Eglinton, opened in 1783. Land adjacent to the building was used as a gaol; the Prison Governor's House is still attached to the building. It is thought that the building may have been a second guildhall in Coventry, in addition to St Mary's Guildhall. Coventry ceased to be a county in its own right under the Boundary Act 1847. It continued to be used as a county court . Its most notable case was in 1849 which resulted in the hanging of Mary Ball (who had been found guilty of poisoning her husband) outside the court - the last person to be hanged there, which had over 20,000 spectators. The courts moved to their current site on Much Park Street in 1988 and the building lay empty until it was bought for use as a bar in 2000. The interior was redesigned although aspects of the courthouse such as the judge's chair and public gallery were left untouched.