Central Criminal Court

The Old Bailey, is the Central Criminal Court in London where major criminal cases are heard. It stands on the site of the notorious, medieval Newgate Gaol (demolished in 1902), in the street also named Old Bailey which is situated between Holborn circus and St Paul's Cathedral. The area where the Central Criminal Court now stands has been known as Old Bailey since the 13th century.   The present building which overlooks the place where many prisoners were executed, dates from 1907 and incorporates some of the stone from Newgate Prison in its facade. Above the main entrance is inscribed "Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer". On the dome above the court is to be found the Statue of Justice, a woman (without a blindfold), with a sword in one hand and scales in the other. The oldest courts of the Old Bailey are number one, two and three and it is here that a great many imfamous people have stood trial. The last time prisoners were beheaded in England was in 1820 outside Newgate Prison but public hangings on this site only ceased in 1868. Thousands of people gathered to watch the executions and many rented rooms in nearby houses. Trials in the Old Bailey are open to the public, as are most criminal trials in the UK, but it is forbidden to take any notes or to use any form of electronic equipment, including mobile phones and cameras - none of these items are allowed inside the court and there are no storage facilities provided. Nearest underground station ( tube ) : St. Paul's.    Admission free Go to the City of London

Old Bailey fast facts

Public executions at Tyburn and Newgate Prison Until the late 18th century up to 50,000 prisoners were sent west on carts for hanging at Tyburn (at the far end of Oxford Street). From then until 1868 hangings took place in public outside Newgate itself. Newgate was famous for its disease with many – including the occasional Judge and Lord Mayor - dying of gaol fever (typhoid) and other illnesses. On special days in the legal calender judges still carry small posies as a reminder of those notorious times.  People would sit in the Magpie and Stump, an Inn across the road from Newgate Prison, and watch the execution of murderers, rapists and even thieves and fraudsters. This ended when in 1868, Michael Barrett was the last person to be executed publicly. Famous trials at The Old Bailey Oscar Wilde made his famous 'Love that dare not speak its name" speech in the dock. Lord Haw Haw was tried for treason after WWII.  London mobsters the Kray Brothers were tried at the Old Bailey The Yorkshire Ripper's reign of terror came to an end in the famous Court No.1. The Old Bailey in Literature, television and film  In the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, the Old Bailey is the courthouse named in the book where Charles Darnay is put on trial for treason. The Old Bailey is destroyed by the character V in the graphic novel V for Vendetta and its film adaptation. The television series Rumpole of the Bailey concerns a defence lawyer who works at the Bailey