The National Justice Museum is located in Nottinghamshire’s Grade II* listed old Shire Hall and County Gaol. (
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The museum is housed in what was once a Victorian courtroom, gaol and police station and uses original courtrooms, dungeons and prison cells, along with a number of more contemporary galleries to exhibit collections relating to justice, the law, crime and punishment in a fun and interactive way.
There may also be a variety of historical characters with different stories of justice to tell.
There has been a court on the site since at least 1375 and a prison since at least 1449. The steps to the entrance were the site of many public executions. (
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The organisation was originally formed in 1993 as The Museum of Law Trust, which aimed to save the building from potential demolition. In 1995 it was opened as a museum with the title of the Galleries of Justice Museum and in 2003 it was the Gulbenkian Prize winner for Museum of the Year.
In April 2017, following a £1 million Heritage Lottery Fund supported project, the museum became the National Justice Museum.
The museum has a collection that is made up of over 40 000 objects and archives, and it is the UK’s largest collection relating to law, justice, crime and punishment.
Some well known items include:
Playwright Oscar Wilde’s cell door
The bath from the brides in the bath murder case
Gibbet irons
Force feeding equipment used on Suffragettes and conscientious objectors
Great Train Robbery evidence
The dock from Bow Street Magistrates Court, which was used in notorious cases such as the trials of Oscar Wilde, Roger Casement and the Krays
Facilities include: Hearing loop, Accessible toilets, Audio Guides, Virtual reality presentations.
The Robe Room cafe, which sells a variety of hot and cold drinks as well as a selection of confectionery, cakes, sandwiches and snacks, is open seven days a week and on bank holidays.
The building is also available to hire as a venue for meetings, conferences, weddings, birthday parties and celebrations.
Source: National Justice Museum Website. (
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