21: Where Justice Was Done
This used to be the home of law and order in Axminster - it’s police station and also the courthouse where misdeeds were dealt with. It was in 1855 that a private house called Mallacks was sold to the Devon Police Committee, who replaced it with the present building as Axminster's first police station, said to be the first in the county to be purpose designed.
The large room on the upper floor (where banners are now painted!) was used for the County Court and the Court of Petty Sessions. There were two cells at the rear. A small house, now used as the Arts Cafe, was the home of the police sergeant and his family, with two constables housed in the main building.
In more recent years, the building has housed a tourist information office, museum, shop and senior citizen’s centre. The Old Courthouse was Grade II listed in 1983.
Designer: Sarah Jackson
”I wanted to tie in the physical elements of the Old Courthouse with the more conceptual. The design features the yellow stone archway entrance to the old courthouse complex as well as the scales representing the balance of justice and the same red and blue colours featured in the town crest.”
Location: The Old Courthouse, Church Street