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WELCOME

Welcome to the Old Sheriff Court, Glasgow, at the heart of the Merchant City. Originally constructed in 1844 as the County Buildings, the building is now a private residential development, featuring uniquely designed flats, all duplex, with up to date amenities built inside part of Glasgow’s heritage. It is also home to a theatre, buddhist temple, bars, restaurants and shops.

This website is run by the Old Sheriff Court Glasgow Residents’ Association, and the information on this site is mostly intended for residents and visitors to the Old Sheriff Court.

• Information for Residents
• News and Events
• Residents’ Association

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About the Old Sheriff Court

Built as the City and County Buildings in 1844, and designed by Clarke and Bell, the original entrance was at 40-50 Wilson Street, and incorporated the Merchants’ House on Hutcheson St, which looks along Garth Street to the Trades house. This part of the building has 10 Corinthian columns, differentiating it from the rest of the building. It was in the Merchants House that Chopin gave his only piano recital, on 27 September 1848.

The building was further extended in 1871 to Ingram St, to provide more accommodation for the city, but on completion of the City Chambers in 1888, it was repurposed as the Sheriff Court, dispensing justice until the late 1980s. Looking at photographs from the 1980’s, before it was redeveloped, the building had become a hotch-potch of design and like much of the city, was grimy and sooty.

In the early 1990s, the building was becoming very run down, as it had fallen from use with the construction of the huge new Sheriff Court on the south bank of the river. Several plans came to naught (nothing’s changed!), until Persimmon City Developments took the shell of the building and converted it into 62 flats and the commercial units on the ground floor (read the Sheriff Court – Persimmon Homes Brochure to see how it was marketed)