Corby Police Station and Magistrates Courts
Intro
A few years back, in 2016, a list came to light outlining all of the planned courthouse closures across the UK and with many of these 86 closures already being accounted for. Corby and a few other East-Midland and Anglian examples remained the outliers.
Around a year or so later I had an excuse to run a quick reconnaissance on the building which was swiftly abandoned with the night beginning to fall and no promising route being visible.
Less than a year on myself and Dusty Sensor had abandoned our main attraction for the afternoon so we decided to head around half-an-hour down the road to have another look at Corby courts. Via Big-Tesco for a sausage roll which was sat on shortly after.
Scuttling around the back of the buildings whilst still in plain view of a busy area we crawled around before finding an entrance in plain view of the town centre. Thankfully, no one in Corby took notice or grew suspicion of our humorous few minuets trying to fold ourselves inside.
The background.
Historical Image: Photo of Corby, Elizabeth Street c.1960 - Francis Frith
The Police Station
Corby, as we know it, is a relatively modern development with its growth being centred around the steel works during the 1930s and onwards into the 60's where the police station materialised in 1956 to 1958. They were officially opened in 1959.
The Magistrates Court
The courts were part of four main magistrates courts within Northamptonshire joining Kettering, Northampton and Wellingborough.
Internally the courts housed two rooms, with fourteen cells within the police station occasionally used by the courts although primarily these were used by the Police custody. Apart from this court house is comparatively small with no secure areas or vehicle docks.
The police station houses a custody area along all the other expected amenities and offices.
Concerns over closure of the police station and courts were raised around 2014 with the full closure taking hold in December 2017 leaving Corby without a local police force and finally vacating the now disused courts.
Today the police station has been purchased for around 1.7Million and the courts presumably part of the same lot although plans for the courts appear separate to the police station.
The Visit
We'd figured our way into the police station with the courts being connected it was assumed our transit between the two wouldn't be too much of a worry. Starting off in the offices and backrooms.
Internally the building is vacant and there is noticeable damage from what looks to have been metal theft.
Stairs
Upper Offices
Corridor to and from custody.
The Public Reception and Office
Custody Reception
Custody holding cells entrance.
The cells inside were rather dated and had some interesting quirks such as the lighting.
Our main attraction were the US Prison/Jail styled doors and the more modern secure examples.
Annoyingly these door were also the one that put a stop to getting inside the courts.
Surprisingly the cameras were still on.
Intro
A few years back, in 2016, a list came to light outlining all of the planned courthouse closures across the UK and with many of these 86 closures already being accounted for. Corby and a few other East-Midland and Anglian examples remained the outliers.
Around a year or so later I had an excuse to run a quick reconnaissance on the building which was swiftly abandoned with the night beginning to fall and no promising route being visible.
Less than a year on myself and Dusty Sensor had abandoned our main attraction for the afternoon so we decided to head around half-an-hour down the road to have another look at Corby courts. Via Big-Tesco for a sausage roll which was sat on shortly after.
Scuttling around the back of the buildings whilst still in plain view of a busy area we crawled around before finding an entrance in plain view of the town centre. Thankfully, no one in Corby took notice or grew suspicion of our humorous few minuets trying to fold ourselves inside.
The background.
Historical Image: Photo of Corby, Elizabeth Street c.1960 - Francis Frith
The Police Station
Corby, as we know it, is a relatively modern development with its growth being centred around the steel works during the 1930s and onwards into the 60's where the police station materialised in 1956 to 1958. They were officially opened in 1959.
The Magistrates Court
The courts were part of four main magistrates courts within Northamptonshire joining Kettering, Northampton and Wellingborough.
Internally the courts housed two rooms, with fourteen cells within the police station occasionally used by the courts although primarily these were used by the Police custody. Apart from this court house is comparatively small with no secure areas or vehicle docks.
The police station houses a custody area along all the other expected amenities and offices.
Concerns over closure of the police station and courts were raised around 2014 with the full closure taking hold in December 2017 leaving Corby without a local police force and finally vacating the now disused courts.
Today the police station has been purchased for around 1.7Million and the courts presumably part of the same lot although plans for the courts appear separate to the police station.
The Visit
We'd figured our way into the police station with the courts being connected it was assumed our transit between the two wouldn't be too much of a worry. Starting off in the offices and backrooms.
Internally the building is vacant and there is noticeable damage from what looks to have been metal theft.
Stairs
Upper Offices
Corridor to and from custody.
The Public Reception and Office
Custody Reception
Custody holding cells entrance.
The cells inside were rather dated and had some interesting quirks such as the lighting.
Our main attraction were the US Prison/Jail styled doors and the more modern secure examples.
Annoyingly these door were also the one that put a stop to getting inside the courts.
Surprisingly the cameras were still on.
Anyway, that's all I have to show.
KP_
KP_
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