The Courthouse Tower

Courthouse Junior School achieved the prestigious Platinum Status from OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) in April 2026. We could immediately see how the school achieved this having met the staff and understanding how open and supportive the whole team are for natural outdoor play.

We began researching the name Courthouse and found a local connection to a real 18^th Century Courthouse that was nearby. This became the foundation for our design and we combined our natural, timber approach with many interesting historic courthouse themes.

The gibbet net is core part of the Tower design and makes connections to the gruesome practice of placing criminals in gibbets. The two winding clamber ways create intrigue and wonder as each leads to the core of the tower. There are also horizontal climbing ropes that lead to a floor hatch in the tower. Outside the Tower below the main window, there are natural log seats where the jury sit and judge whether everyone is guilty of natural play!

For extra inspiration, imaginative play and learning we’ve added several features to the structure including a carved face to the end of one of the roof beams which resembles 18^thcentury depictions of the sun or moon. There’s a cross sword and axe on the side wall of the tower which is typical of images associated with courthouses of the time and is intended to symbolise justice.

To add a further sense of age and history to the Courthouse Tower, we’ve added several pretend graffiti marks to the centre post inside on the timber beams. The initials and dates carved into the wood, all relate to real local people, events, stories and legends. These people may have seen, lived near, known or had a connection to the nearby Century Courthouse that once stood in Courthouse Road. We also added the school’s logo accompanied by the date that the school was built.

We created several pockets of naturalistic planting around the Tower. These included many native species of plants that will help the children to feel like their play space is a bit wilder.

The Courthouse Tower is a truly unique play structure that sits right in the heart of the school. It's a place for nature, for learning and for natural play. It fits the school’s learning approach and interprets the history of the area to the children.

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