The Old Sessions House

NEIGHBOURS of a Grade II-listed former courtroom fear it will operate like a nightclub after the Town Hall was asked to consider a late licence request.

Applicants Knotel have requested a variation to their licensed hours at the members club Old Sessions House in Clerkenwell Green – bidding to get permission for an 11pm finish on Mondays to Wednesdays and a 1am end on Thursdays through to Sundays.

But people living nearby – who have objected in droves to the scheme – say the extended hours will ruin their sleep and bring antisocial behaviour to the historic square.

In one objection filed at the Town Hall, a neighbour said “the proposal would in essence turn the Old Sessions House into a nightclub,” while another, from the Friends of Clerkenwell Green (FoCG), said: “This application is functionally equivalent to a nightclub licence application for a large 300 person late-night, seven-day-a-week premises with extensive use of outdoor space at street and rooftop levels.”

Another opponent to the changes wrote: “From the bottom of my heart I ask you, don’t be a part of throwing this gem into the rubbish heap of fast living, fun fuelled London. Clerkenwell is London’s history.”

Knotel is an American flexible office space business founded eight years ago with five million square feet across 200 locations in four continents.

The application for the building – constructed in 1779 as the nation’s largest courthouse – also includes a request to add tables and chairs to the newly paved Green and would open up the downstairs restaurant to members of the public. The rest of the venue would remain just for members.

The Old Sessions building, once known as Middlesex Sessions House, saw hundreds of legal cases in its time, while convicts were marched down to the basement cells below. They are now part of the building’s bars.

In the application, Knotel has sought to reassure licensing officers that aside from the restaurant, the rest of the premises is only open to members.

A council report published prior to next Thursday’s licensing meeting said the venue had held the same premises manager for the past two years.

It added: “In January this year, the applicant’s Legal Representative began to engage with the local residents and the Responsible Authorities, making clear the proposed application and inviting comments from them. The applicant’s Legal Representative has also invited the residents to visit the premises for a tour and to discuss the proposed variation.”

It added: “The applicant has incorporated conditions required by the Responsible Authorities into the Operating Schedule of conditions and added an additional condition requested by Islington’s Noise Service.”