County Hall, Maidstone


County Hall, formerly the Old Sessions House, is a municipal building in Maidstone, Kent. It is a Grade II listed building.

History

The building, which was designed by Sir Robert Smirke in the Greek Revival style, was completed in 1824. It was initially used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it also became the offices and meeting place for Kent County Council. Invicta House, a six-storey hexagonal building was built adjacent to County Hall in the 1960s. The Centre for Kentish Studies, established at County Hall in 1933, relocated to the new Kent History and Library Centre in James Whatman Way, which also incorporates the town's former Central Library, in April 2012.