A nine-bedroom former courthouse in Cambridgeshire, complete with two prison cells and a courtroom, has been put on the market for £800,000.
The Old Courthouse in Linton served as a police station, magistrates’ court and local prison before being converted into a private home. It retains many of its original features, including one cell’s toilet, flooring and wall paint.
Inscriptions remain on the walls of the intact cell, with some believed to date back to 1821. A second cell has been turned into a bathroom, although its original layout is still visible.
The former courtroom has a vaulted ceiling, original flooring and large sash windows. The building was recorded as a police station in September 1855.
A former magistrates’ court with a long history
Cheffins, which is handling the sale, said the building dealt with thousands of petty crime cases during its time as a magistrates’ court.
Among those appearing before the court was Linton labourer Robert Swann, who was sentenced to three months’ hard labour in 1865 after assaulting his mother with a dung fork.
Eugene Stamp, a trainee teacher at Linton church school, received a 14-day prison sentence after throwing a stone at a train. In another case, Charles Whittaker, a 30-year-old labourer, was sentenced to four years’ transportation in 1857 after being convicted of stealing 25lb of brass from his employer in West Rattlesden.
As a police station, the building was the centre of the Linton division of Cambridgeshire police, covering more than 20 local parishes. It was reportedly built for £1,040 and staffed by ten officers.
The police station closed in 1958 when Cambridge Road police station opened, although the building continued to operate as a magistrates’ court into the 1970s. It was later converted into a residential property.
The current owners bought the Old Courthouse in 1993 and have retained as many of its historic features as possible. The house now extends to more than 4,000 square feet, with two kitchens, a large lobby, the courtroom, a separate sitting room, dining room and integral garage on the ground floor.
There are seven bedrooms and four bathrooms on the first floor, with nine bedrooms in total. The property is arranged around a courtyard garden, while a further lawned area leads down to the River Granta.
The Old Courthouse is being sold by the owners’ family
The property is being sold by the widow and son of Robert Williams, one of the founders of Unipalm, which later became Pipex and was described as the first British internet provider in 1992.
His son, Merrick Williams, who works in software development, said his parents had been attracted to Linton because of its village character and the convenience of having everyday amenities within walking distance.
“The house itself was another matter entirely. There was simply nothing else quite like it,” he said. “Its history, architecture and rather extraordinary collection of spaces made it feel less like an ordinary house and more like a small piece of the village’s story.”
Mr Williams said he had been fascinated by the property since first seeing it and had enjoyed exploring the former courtroom and cells. He currently lives there while the sale is under way.
He described the garden, which stretches towards the River Granta, as one of his favourite features, adding that it offered “a real sense of privacy and connection with the countryside”.
Mr Williams is selling the property so that he and his wife can settle in the United States. “It is less a case of wanting to leave the house than an opportunity for us to begin the next chapter of our lives somewhere new,” he said.
Linton has four schools, pubs, independent shops and a Co-op. Cambridge is around eight miles away, while the village is also home to Chilford Hall, a former vineyard and zoo.
