Royal Courts of Justice

The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a large court building on the Strand in the City of Westminster, London. Designed by George Edmund Street in the Gothic Revival style, it was built through the 1870s and formally opened by Queen Victoria on 4 December 1882. The building houses the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and is considered one of the largest court buildings in Europe. Its grey stone exterior presents a symmetrical Strand frontage with a stepped central section, an arched doorway leading into the Great Hall, and a five part first floor window beneath a gabled rose window; four statues depicting Jesus, Moses, Solomon and Alfred the Great line the front, and a clock tower with five bells rises on the eastern facade. Inside, the courts branch off a long north to south Great Hall, which also holds a bust of Queen Victoria by the sculptor Alfred Gilbert.