Step inside one of London’s most unusual heritage buildings — a Victorian criminal court that is now a Buddhist centre.

Built in 1869 as Lambeth Police Court and later Lambeth Magistrates’ Court, this was retained from around 1970 as a high-security court for sensitive and high-risk cases, using its enclosed layout and original cell block, until it closed in 1990. On this guided tour you’ll see the former courtroom — where a Buddha now sits in the place once occupied by the magistrate — along with the witness box, the Victorian cells, which today serve as overnight accommodation, and more. Hear about the building’s life as a court, the cases and folklore attached to its high-security years, and how it came to be reborn in 1995 as Jamyang Buddhist Centre. Grade II listed as the earliest surviving criminal magistrates’ court in the Metropolitan area.

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