Hidden Courtroom, Stafford art gallery

**whitebake** · 16th January 2012, 12:36

This court room is hidden away behind Stafford art gallery in the market square. Just a fleeting glimpse before I was ushered on, so didnt get to photo the holding cells, trust me they were verrrry creepy though, and these mannequins only added to that eeriness...

**yamahapaul** · 21st January 2012, 11:49

Fascinating!

**whitebake** · 21st January 2012, 20:32

Very spooky, unfortunately I was there to work in another part of the building so didnt get to see much, never even knew it existed til that day. I found this on wiki:

The Shire Hall Gallery was built in 1798 as a court house and office of the Mayor and Clerk of Stafford.[20] It houses the Art Gallery, which shows changing exhibitions. It also contains a café and the town's library. The Shire Hall used to be the town's court house, and is a Grade II listed building. It still retains two courtrooms. One of them is open to the general public and has a permanent exhibition showing the history of the building and details of some high profile cases that were heard there. An old 'holding cell' is also open to public viewing.

**theStig** · 21st January 2012, 21:02

Completed in 1798, Stafford's Shire Hall was home to the County Assizes, or criminal courts until 1991. The current building is at least the third of Stafford's Shire Halls: a building is first mentioned in records as early as the 1280s. Little is known about this structure although it is thought to have stood at the corner of Market Square and Greengate Street.

Staffordshire County Council - The Historic Court Room

**whitebake** · 21st January 2012, 21:34

Love that 360 view application, shame you cant see into the holding cells area and the stairwells and corridors, mainly oak panelled and a bit of a maze