Wisbech court house could become a meeting place for the town’s masons, if proposals are approved by Fenland planners. 

The Wisbech Masonic Centre has submitted a change of use application for the Grade-II listed building. 

It wants to convert the former magistrates’ court – which sits prominently on the Freedom Bridge roundabout - into a masonic centre.  

Plans submitted with the application show the layout will remain much the same.  

Visitors arriving through the main entrance will enter the foyer and proposals show there will be a bar on the right.  

A set of doors next to the bar will take them to a lobby area and the court room will become a more formal main room.  

The ground floor will also have a smaller meeting room, offices and toilets.  

The first-floor plans include a kitchen, another meeting room and more toilets.  

The application was validated by Fenland planners on July 31, 2024.  

A heritage statement submitted alongside the application clarifies the development “does not include the demolition or works to a designated heritage asset”.  

It explains the building held approximately 120 people when it served as the court house and these numbers will be the same if the Masonic Centre proposals are approved.  

“There is no external work proposed and therefore there would be no effect on the nearby heritage asset,” the heritage statement says. 

The building was placed on the market last February with £150,000 guide price and sold at an auction held at the Oliver Cromwell Hotel, in March.  

Listed with agents Maxey Grounds, the site on offer included the empty magistrates’ court and also the current police station housed next door.    

At the time, the agent and Cambridgeshire Police clarified the police station had no plans to relocate.  

According to the advertisement for the site, Cambridgeshire Police occupies the building as “part of a long term lease at a rent of £1 per annum until 2094”. 

Police also have use of the yard and share the car park as part of this current agreement.    

Wisbech court house stands prominently next to Freedom Bridge, one of the key routes through town.   

The building replaced the old South Brink police station and the exterior was designed to be in keeping with the Georgian architecture of the town centre and the Brinks.      

It opened in April 1957.  

In 2010, it was announced that the court – Fenland Magistrates’ Court – was to close as part of a government cost-cutting exercise.   

At a ceremony to mark the closure the following year, there were deliberations about what the building could be in the future.   

On behalf of defence solicitors, John Clarke said: “The only thing they could use it for is a night club.”