OLD BAILEY DAMAGED DURING AIR RAID

The Times | ARCHIVES

 May 16, 1941

OLD BAILEY DAMAGED DURING AIR RAID

The Old Bailey, which is the popular name for the Central Criminal Court, has been damaged for the third time, and a high explosive bomb has shattered the Newgate Street end of the building. The court is on the site of the historic Newgate. The gilded figure of Justice still remains as one of London's landmarks, but No. 2 court is a ruin, and the other three courts are littered with debris. In one of the raids two porters were killed while on duty inspecting the upper part of the building. The blast wrenched away marble slabs on the walls of the upper great hall. The figures of Charity under the dome were cracked and little remains of the frescoes at the Newgate Strect end of the building. The public waiting-room and No. 2 court lay open to the street and the roof over the centre of the hall open to the sky. The traditional ceremony of opening the Sessions was held as usual by the Lord Mayor (Sir George Wilkinson) in the dining-room, converted into a temporary court, but the Session was immediately adjourned.