National Justice Museum, Nottingham, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The National Justice Museum is a museum of crime and punishment in Nottingham, housed in the old Shire Hall and County Gaol on High Pavement. For centuries this site was where Nottinghamshire people were tried, locked up and sometimes executed, which makes it one of the city's most vivid links to its legal past.

The story behind it

Records point to the site being used for court hearings as far back as the 14th century, and as a prison from at least the 15th century. Over the years it grew into the Shire Hall and County Gaol, the place where the county's justice was handed down and carried out. The museum was formerly known as the Galleries of Justice.

Executions here were public, and the crowds who gathered outside are part of the building's grim reputation. The last public execution at the site took place in 1864, and public hangings in England were abolished a few years later, in 1868. The man put to death in 1864 was Richard Thomas Parker, whose name is still tied to the end of that era in Nottingham.

What to look for

• The courtroom spaces, where you can picture how trials once unfolded and how little the accused could expect from them.
• The underground cells and jail areas, which show how cramped and bleak life was for prisoners awaiting trial or sentence.
• The Shire Hall building itself, whose stone frontage on High Pavement still looks like the public building of authority it once was.
• The setting on the edge of the Lace Market, where the old streets around the museum still have a historic feel.

Tips for your visit

• Allow roughly one to two hours inside if you like to read every display, and less if you only want a quick look.
• You can go inside, but this is a ticketed museum, so check current opening hours and entry details before you set out.
• Some of the subject matter is dark, so think about whether it suits younger children before you go.
• The Lace Market and the church of St Mary are close by, so it works well as one stop in a wider walk around the city centre.

See it on a quest

Maid Marian's Nottingham: Finding Robin Hood brings you to this part of the city on foot, as one stop on a longer route. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle in what is in front of you, so you look at the building rather than just walk past it. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.

Nottingham Detective Mystery: Infiltrate a Secret Society. suits a site with such a shadowy past. You walk between places across the centre, hear about each one as you reach it and solve a puzzle on the spot. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.