Many of us in Tamil Nadu, particularly in the districts close to Tiruchirappalli may not be aware that the District Court building in an important locality of the city next to the Uyyakondan channel is one of the oldest colonial landmarks in this place. In August 2019 this building turned 100 years. It is built in Indo- European architecture.
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| Tiruchi District Court building thehindu.com |
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| Tiruchi District Court building thehindu.com |
Above image: Tiruchi District Court building (1919): A landmark building in this city it was modelled after the London District and Sessions Court. it is close to Tiruchi Main Bus stand..................
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| Tiruchi District Court building thehindu.com |
It was on April 28, 1917, the foundation for the Court building was laid by the then District and Sessions Judge J.G. Burn and he himself declared open the court for legal deliberations on August 16, 1919. Mr. Burn was the first judge of this District Court. The iconic old court building saw its centenary - 100 years in August 2019, an important milestone in the legal history of Tamil Nadu courts south of Chennai. The distinctive aspect of this court building is it was constructed using the London District and Sessions Court as a model. Pieces of wooden furniture in the court were made from imported wood shipped from London. The wooden stairways are quite impressive and still intact. Visitors can not escape from the fact that the court building is well built with meticulous care. The masonry walls are thick and the building appears to be in good condition because the builders used quality wood and construction materials. The total area of the court complex is 13,51,600 square feet,
The centenary event was an occasion to rejoice for the legal fraternity of Tiruchirappalli district. During the early colonial period under the East India Company in 1804 Tiruchi had Judicial Magistrate Courts that were functioning in the place where the Bishop Heber college is functioning now.
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| ornate newel on the square stairway,.Tiruchi court. thehindu.com |
The most impressive part of this pinkish red colored two story colonial building is the small clock tower with a clock. The turret clock was made by William Potts & Sons of Leeds in the UK. The top of the tower is sort of globose, normally an European design element. The clock has three big dials with visible numbers that cn be seen from a distance. The first floor veranda in the façade has huge rounded columns while the first floor above it has big and wide arched window. The entrance in the front with a pair of rounded pillars on either side highlights European design - close to Victorian style. So is the gentle slanting roof on the front part of the first floor. The well-planned building was constructed by a local contractor one A Thatha Pillai who did a wonderful job guided by an English judge H O D Harding. According to Sri M S Vinodh, an advocate who knows the history of this court building. tragically on 15 February 1916 Judge Harding was stabbed to death in the portico below. Reason: The culprit was convicted by the judge, so he became a vigilante. There is a stone plaque here in memory of the slain judge. Yet another historical fact is the place where the old court stands was once the residence of Bishop Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta who was on a visit to Tiruchi and died in a freak drowning accident in 1826. yet another interesting information we gather is in the colonial period the justices of this court used to come to the court riding a bike and got back to their residence in the evening with their days;' judgement well safely secured on the carrier. They lived near by on the present-day campus of the Campion Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School in the Cantonment area.
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| Tiruch District Court building /timesofindia.indiatimes.com |
The Tiruchi Bar Association with principal judge and judicial officials organized a function to mark the completion of 100 years of this court building. The advocates, using the occasion diligently, put forth a demand to the state government to declare this building as a heritage monument that needs to be protected for the posterity. It is mentioned that political leaders like former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and former CM sri Karunanidhi visited the District Court building to attend the meeting. According to the President of the Tiruchi Bar Association the size of court hall of PDJ in Trichy was on a par with the court of chief justice of Madras High Court, Chennai.
A few years ago new buildings came on the court campus and the centenary building is presently being used to house court records and some offices. The government officials should give priority to heritage aspect and aesthetics of this old court building and should not leave it uncared for.. Under the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958, this structure can be protected..
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| Tiruchi District court centenary building clock. /twitter.com |
Tit-bits:
Clock on the court building, Tiruchi.
01. The quarter-chiming Tiruchi clock on the court building was completed in 1921, and supplied with three solid cast iron dials of 5 ft diameter, painted black and gilded. It had special parts to maintain accuracy of time. It was made by the English clock makers William Potts and Sons. The Tiruchi turret clock stopped working for a long time.
02. the unique specialty about this chiming clock on the court's tower is the bell would ring every 15 minutes, 30 minutes and 45 minutes and every one hour. So the precision parts in the clock had to be maintained periodically to get the clock going.
03. Acceding to request by Dist Magistrate (of Tiruchi), 10 staff from Golden Rock workshop deployed to reclaim century-old giant Clock atop Trichy Court Bldg. lying defunct for 10years. Using lockdown clock was restored by GOC team. .Incidentally, GOC workshop also has a clock tower atop the Armoury Gate.
4. The historic clock chimes now and the dedicated and hardworking team from the GOC took 40 long days in 2020 to repair it; work started in February and the delay was due to lock down. The GOC had to make some part to make the turret clock functional. The clock works on gravity escape mechanism. ..............................
https://twitter.com/gmsrailway/status/1273629891875844096
https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/district-court-house-in-tiruchi-turns-100-in-a-low-key-birthday/article29300963.ece
