The Madras High Court moved into its red Indo-Saracenic building on 12 July 1892, after four years of construction that cost close to Rs 13 lakh. The court itself is older, formally opened on 15 August 1862, and the campus is older still: it holds a lighthouse column from the 1840s and a tomb that the Archaeological Survey of India protects. For most of the 20th century, ships approaching Madras steered by a lamp on top of the court’s central dome.
This is a guide to the building rather than the court’s cases: how it was designed, what is on the campus, and the limited ways the public can see it.
From Supreme Court to High Court
Before 1862, justice in Madras was split between a Crown court, the Supreme Court, and the Company’s Sudder courts. Madras Musings records that the Supreme Court had moved to a building on the Marine Yard site in 1817, while the Sudder courts sat at Sudder Gardens in Luz. Letters Patent dated 26 June 1862 created the High Court and named Sir Colley Harman Scotland its first Chief Justice. The new court opened on 15 August 1862 and absorbed both older courts.
The site chosen for a permanent home, just north of Fort St George at the edge of George Town, once held a Chennakesava temple until about 1762, the same account notes.
Designing the court
The CMDA’s heritage paper says the design was first prepared by J.W. Brassington and completed by Henry Irwin, assisted by J.H. Stephens. Work started in 1888, and the contractor Namberumal Chetty, who also built the Connemara Library, took four years. The Governor who opened it described the style as Hindu-Saracenic, freely adapted to local needs.
Almost everything was made locally. Government brickfields supplied the bricks and much of the floor tile; only the heavy steel girders and some ornamental tiles were imported. The result, as described in a Bar and Bench heritage walk account, includes:
- exposed red brick with numerous arches and 23 domed minarets
- hand-painted fresco ceilings and stained glass from England
- Italian tiles and carved wooden fretwork in the courtrooms
A court that was also a lighthouse
The campus tells the story of Madras’s sea lights better than anywhere else. The Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships gives these dates:
| Light | Where | In service | Height |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second Madras light | Stone column in the High Court compound | 1 January 1844 to 1894 | 38 m |
| Third Madras light | Central dome of the High Court | 1 June 1894 to 1977 | 175 ft above sea level |
The older column is a fluted Doric shaft about 135 feet high with a spiral staircase. The dome light burned kerosene vapour lamps until electricity arrived and was retired in 1977 when the Marina lighthouse took over, Madras Musings notes. The base of the dome light now holds two photo exhibitions prepared by the court’s Heritage Committee.
Other things on the campus
- The Emden plaque. On the night of 22 September 1914, the German cruiser Emden shelled Madras. Part of the court’s eastern boundary wall was blown away, and a plaque near Gate No. 1 marks the spot.
- The Yale tomb. The ASI’s list includes the tomb of David Yale and Joseph Hynmer in the High Court complex, one of only two protected colonial monuments in Chennai outside the fort.
- The court museum, which displays the original 1753 charter under which the Presidency courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were set up. Madras declined to circulate it because it is too fragile.
- Its own PIN code, 600104.
Can the public see inside?
The High Court is a working court, and its corridors are open to litigants and lawyers on court business, subject to security checks. There is no ticketed tour. The main way in for history lovers has been a heritage walk led by Senior Advocate N.L. Rajah, a member of the High Court Heritage Committee, who has run it every two months since 2012. Walks begin around 7 am on a Sunday at the court museum and last about three hours. Madras Musings notes that ordinary visitors are generally not allowed inside otherwise, so these walks are the exception. Watch Madras Week listings and heritage groups for dates.
From outside, the best views are from NSC Bose Road and from the Parry’s Corner side, where the dome and minarets line up. Avoid weekday mornings, when court traffic fills the area.
Quick answers
When was the Madras High Court building opened?
On 12 July 1892. Construction began in 1888.
Who designed the Madras High Court?
J.W. Brassington prepared the first design; Henry Irwin completed it with J.H. Stephens.
Was the High Court really a lighthouse?
Yes. A lamp on the central dome served as Madras’s light from 1894 to 1977.
Can I visit the High Court museum?
Access is mainly through occasional heritage walks; there is no regular public ticket.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- History of historical buildings and monuments in and around Chennai (CMDA)
- Chennai Lighthouse history (Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships)
- List of colonial buildings, Chennai Circle (Archaeological Survey of India)
- The Madras High Court: 150 years old (Madras Musings)
- Madras High Court, a shining beacon of heritage (Madras Musings)
- How a German warship damaged the Madras High Court wall in 1914 (Bar and Bench)
