The Victorian Gothic Revival style Royal Courts of Justice in central London have restarted regular tours of the 140-year old building.
(c) Royal Courts of Justice tours
The Royal Courts of Justice is reminiscent of a cathedral in both style and scale. Soaring arches and beautiful stained glass windows ornamented with the coats of arms of Lord Chancellors and keepers of the Great Seal, combined with a mosaic marble floor leading to a maze of enchanting corridors to create a majestic setting or exciting visit to one of London’s best kept secrets.
Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner described the building as “an object lesson in free composition, with none of the symmetry of the classics, yet not undisciplined where symmetry is abandoned”. David Brownlee claimed that it was influenced by the reformist political movement and the High Victorian architectural movement and described it as a “regular mongrel affair” while Turnor described it as the “last great secular building of the Gothic Revival”.
As it’s a court of law, you can go inside whenever it’s open and sit in many of the trials that take place. However, if you want a guided tour of the history and architecture, then bookable tours recently resumed once more.
The tours cost £14 for adults and £12 for children, and they need to be booked in advance from here.
They need at least 12 people to attend for a tour to go ahead, but that’s 12 strangers, not a group of 12 friends, so you can book just one ticket for yourself and they’ll make up the numbers.
At the time of writing tours are available on the following dates:
- Monday 5 September at 15:30
- Wednesday 7 September at 15:15
- Tuesday 20 September at 12:00
- Wednesday 21 September at 12:00
- Friday 23 September at 15:15
- Tuesday 27 September at 10:30
Note – as it’s a working court of law, photography is forbidden inside the building. You also need to bring photo ID with you when booking a tour.
