Until the early 1980s, all criminal court hearings in Chelmsford were held in the Shire Hall on the north side of Tindal Square.

[1] However, as the number of court cases in Chelmsford grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for criminal matters: the site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department had been occupied by a residential area known as Marriages Square, which had dated back at least to the early 19th century,[2][3] but which was cleared away in 1953.

[4] The new building was designed by the Property Services Agency in the Modernist style, built in brown brick at a cost of £5.6 million,[5] and was completed in 1982.

[8] Notable cases have included the trial and conviction of Jeremy Bamber, in October 1986, for the murder of his parents, Nevill and June Bamber, their adopted daughter, Sheila Caffell, and Sheila's six-year-old twin sons, Daniel and Nicholas Caffell at White House Farm.

[11] The court was also the venue for the trial and conviction of the serial killer, Peter Tobin, in December 2009, for the murder of Dinah McNicol.