Spa now holds court in Sessions House

Anybody hauled before The Sessions at Beverley might have been lucky to escape with a whipping, or a stint in the stocks. Two hundred years ago, the penalty for poaching could be a one-way trip to Australia.

Nearby, Gallows Lane stood as a reminder of the ultimate sanction. For 200 years, the Sessions witnessed proceedings linked to tales of greed, folly and wickedness. Then, in the late 20th century, the Sessions House fell silent, when the Lord Chancellor’s department decided its days as a crown court should end. East Riding Council put it on the market in 1999 after Beverley Town Council and the Council for Voluntary Services, who were both offered the property on a long lease, decided not to take it on.

Today, the Sessions witnesses more peaceful proceedings. The Grade II listed building has been converted into a salon and spa – called Sessions – which has reopened after undergoing a refurbishment.

Jimi Parkinson, who runs The Sessions Spa with his wife Georgina, said: “It’s hard to imagine that it’s 10 years since we walked in here for the first time. The place had been empty for about 15 years. There was a tree growing in the corner of the Crown Court room. We’ve all worked hard and the result is a luxurious building.”

The business re-opened this week. All the staff and facilities from the company’s Hessle salon have moved to Beverley. The Parkinsons moved their Beverley salon into Sessions when it opened in 2004.

They added the Westwood restaurant, run by an indepen-dent operator, in adjoining buildings five years ago and have now created the space needed to bring in the rest of their team.

The business has spent £1.8m on the courthouse conversion. Forty staff are employed at Sessions, and their roles are very different from the judges who presided there when the building was used to dispense justice.