Welcome
Gathering the Jewels features over 30,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums, archives and libraries throughout Wales.
Search the map
New to Gathering the Jewels is G.I.S. A geographical search facility that will enable searching by location and place name.
Part of the reconstructed Brecon Assize court of 1880
As County town, Brecon was home to the County Assizes. In 1842 the Shire Hall was built of Bath stone to house the Assizes and Quarter Sessions and to provide a venue for public meetings.
When an itinerant judge of the High Court arrived in Brecon there was a ceremonial opening of the Assize Court which entailed a procession through the streets from the judges' lodings in the Struet, with trumpeters and sometimes a band.
The Assize Courts and Quarter Session were abolished in 1971, and soon after, the building was handed over to the Museum. The assizes courtroom was kept as a reminder of the legal dramas played out in the past and by 1998 the museum had mounted a vivid tableau in the old courtroom with recreated figures from 1880.
Continue browsing W. H. Davies (1871-1940), poet and author
View next subject item:
