The site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department, on the west side of Black Horse Street, had been occupied by Deansgate Goods Station.

The central section featured an opening containing a revolving doorway, with a column to the left supporting a balcony to which a Royal coat of arms was fixed.

[7] The architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, was critical of the design, describing it as looking "more like a relic from the distant past than a recent addition to the town".

[8] A sculpture by Dame Barbara Hepworth, entitled "Two Forms", was placed outside the building shortly after it opened but was subsequently moved to a site in front of Senate House of the University of Bolton.

[10] Other cases have included the trial and conviction of a builder, Christopher Taylor, in August 2019, for the murder of his former partner, Maggie Smythe.