Rochdale’s law-abiding citizens are being given the rare opportunity to step back into a time when justice was swift, wigs were itchy, and being caught nicking pigeons could land you in the dock.
From tomorrow, the former magistrates’ court inside Rochdale Town Hall will open to the public for guided tours, because nothing says “fun family day out” like retracing the steps of your granddad as he was sentenced for larceny with intent to look a bit shifty.
The grand Grade I-listed chamber, now the council chamber where modern crimes like “failing to declare a £15 Greggs lunch” are hushed up, once oversaw thousands of cases from 1872 to the early 1980s. A now-vanished spiral staircase once led convicts directly from the cells below to the dock, giving them the full theme-park experience before sentencing.
Local historians say visitors will learn about the magistrates, constables and petty criminals who shaped Rochdale’s judicial history. Highlights include Chief Constable Samuel Stephens, famed for his 19th-century “clean up” of a town centre district called The Gank, an area boasting 159 brothels, 111 beer houses and, allegedly, the first recorded stag do to end with a man fighting a donkey.
Cllr Sue Smith said: “These tours really bring the town’s history to life. Unlike the wealth displayed in the rest of the Town Hall, the courtroom reveals the everyday struggles of Rochdalians, mainly their struggle not to get caught.”
Unfortunately, this weekend’s tours are already fully booked, as locals rushed to see whether their family surnames appear on the charge sheets. But the council promises monthly tours from October, giving residents ample time to brush up on 19th-century legal jargon like “felonious intent” and “you absolute wrong ’un.”
One attendee summed it up best: “It’s just like Netflix’s Time Team, except with fewer Romans and a lot more drunk uncles.”
