Great museum to explore. We found the old jail cells and courtroom interesting. . We enjoyed reading about the history of St Albans too. There was an exhibition featuring the history of local Jewish people, which was very informative. Recommend a visit if you're in the area, it's a short 10 minute walk from the cathedral (a must see!) . Would recommend 1-2 hours for the museum. Visited with my children, 12 and 8 yes old.

Great place to visit in the heart of St Albans centre. It has inside coffee bar & you can enjoy your food on level 0, lovely big food hall. The museum entry is free of charge.

This is an extremely historic building. It is not only grand in stature. It is also has amazing history. I love drinking afternoon tea inside a converted courtroom. There are plenty of toilets, and a few historic relics dotted over the place.

This is a free entry museum, the original court room is now the seating area for the cafe which was where we sat and had lunch. The museum is on different levels with the old holding cells (some of which are now toilets!) below the cafe/court room. Adults and children all enjoy pretending to be on trial and sitting in the judges chair or standing in the dock. Above the court room there is a display about mourning, many family loss stories with paintings, sculptures or creations, very emotional to look around and read all the heart wrenching stories. There are toilets on every level as well as some right by the main entrance, down a flight of stairs to the left before you can go through the second doors and enter the lovely museum shop and cafe counter.

I attended a regency ball in the upstairs room which can be hired out for weddings, etc. Plenty of space. Easy access toilets. Sweeping staicase and a lift for the less able/ heavy equipment.

What an amazing space, if only to experience the cells and court that were once in daily use and now you can sit and eat cake and sip a nice drink. Great photo opportunities in here!

Nice museum and café. The place was quite small with museum downstairs and art gallery upstairs, but it was a good experience. Lovely members of staff.

I didn't get to look round the museum on this visit, but will definitely be back. It's a great place to stop for a coffee as the seating is in the old courthouse. It was really quirky and fun. Lots of photo opportunities. From the dock you can go down the stairs a prisoner would have taken to the cells.

Excellent food and exhibitions. Eating in the old court is really unique. As are the downstairs toilets in the cells 😊 great visitor attraction and equally good for locals lunching. Exhibitions were free and cost of food very reasonable. Highly recommend.

Nice place to stop off whilst in the centre of town, particularly as we are not shoppers. Loved the court room café, and old cell underneath. Good to browse the art exhibits, and St Albans on sea exhibits.

Lots of areas seemed to be closed off but what was open was interesting especially the cellar. Really enjoyed the exhibit on Henry Moore.

It's not a museum, it's a coffee shop, people leaving scratches and gouged the original woodwork of the old courtroom. Nothing relevant on display, trinkets and tea/ coffee .. Thsts all it is, what a waste of lottery money.. Its such a shame this has replaced the proper museum on the Hatfield road, which is now luxury apartments because the council sold the land..

We visited the exhibition of fibre art by Anna Ray. It was striking, highly original, and very well worth a visit. The courtroom cafe is also good. Why not combine them?

Such a nice place. An art gallery n museum together at one place. Museum is downstairs n art gallery is upstairs. Cool art exhibitions as well as great historic stuff in museum. Great location right in the middle of city. Shopping centre, cafes, pubs around. Worth to visit. Even now a days just beautiful with Xmas vibes.

A nice renovation of this building , alot different than before, everything is new here and fresh. The inside of building has some very nice parts especially the stairs, also has a very popular cafe inside here that smells strong of nice coffee. The stairs in here are lovely also but the real reason i went in here was for the Underground Cells. You go down a couple of flights of stairs and you are there, narrow old brick tunnels with Prison cells at the end with large heavy metal doors. You are able to go inside and see what the prisoners went through and see the small size of there cells. It really gives you something to think about. They have turned some of the cells in to toilets which i found unusual to be honest. A great visit even if just to see the cells, But lost of art work upstairs also.

Really cute and nice place. Staff are friendly and nice. Spoke to a very helpful and sweet gentleman called Humza at the gift store. He went out of his way to help me with a query. Extremely polite and just so lovely to talk to. Note to management: it's staff like this that make the experience that little bit more pleasant. You have a gem of a staff whom I hope you cherish as a great example for the rest.

Beautiful Town Hall building. Lots of interesting things to see, keep an eye on their website for the latest information on exhibitions and events. Pleasant and helpful staff. There is a coffee shop, seating is located inside the old courthouse. The old jail cells are open for the public to view as well. Lots of information on the history of St Albans. Parking is available close by in various multi story car parks. Free entry for all, (some exhibitions may charge a small donation for entry). There is also a gift shop with lots of locally sourced items and books. Full disabled access with a lift going up and down.

Lovely place to have a cup of tea or coffee. Cakes made on the premises. You can eat and drink in the old courtroom and visit the cells!

Cute gallery. Entry is free and your visit won't take long. The courtroom and the underground jail were the highlights for me. I enjoyed how they turned prison cells into toilets!

Loved the time for tea exhibit and the crimes & art exhibits in the lower floor. Very cool. Quaint little place. Buy from cafe and eat in courtroom! Great way to repurpose a town building.

Free to go in and it's a lovely, informative space. The cafe is excellent too. The seating area is in what was once the magistrates court and they have left it predominantly admit would have been in that guise.

Intresting visit , lots see , cafe inside n bits to buy souvenirs

Small museum with a peaceful ambiance. Staff are really friendly and the gift shop has the cutest gifts. Lots of aesthetic paintings, art and filled with history.

More of a coffee shop in the original court house which is fascinating, (the cells are in the basement), and the coffee was good. There's also a large function room. I wouldn't say this is really a museum. Lots of space filled with little of historical value. A large room about tea with a pretend toy tea shop in the middle. Children's activity room, Some impressions of how modern objects could appear as historcisl exhibits. Paintings. Maybe the management have more of an arts background than history. The reason I was confused is because I remembered visiting an amazing little museum in 2009 with extensive exhibits and anticipated this was it and was quite excited to revisit. But it wasn't. Sadly barely a shadow of the former museum but worth a visit for a coffee break and a quick wander around.

Hidden little gem in the city. There's so much in the building. It used to be a court room so the old courthouse is there. You can sit in the judges chair and have coffee. Or just work. Nice space. The downstairs holding cells and tunnles are still there too. Cool place!

The museum itself was lovely! My daughter took me (She is so kind!) and showed me around. I am giving a 1 star review because one member of staff did not seem to be very kind. At least to the other staff. I have had my fair share of unsavory people to work with and let me tell you from experience, your colleagues are what makes a job fulfilling. I never caught her name, I didn't want to confront her in case she turned that attitude toward me. One girl who I had spoke to was so friendly and had such a mind of information! Answered every question I had! But it was this same girl I saw, who was being spoken down to like she was a child. I give the museum 1 star and the lady with the blond hair a 1 star. I give the exhibits and the rest of the staff 5 stars. -Susan

Having made a round trip of 30 miles on Monday to check that the various rooms would be open today, Thursday, I was very surprised to find that not only the gallery, but the courtroom and the ballroom were all closed, and the friends I had brought with me especially to see this ‘jewel in the crown’ of St Albans, were very disappointed. Two very officious young women ‘ on duty’ in the ballroom could easily have let us stand in the entrance to have a look at that lovely space, but were determined that we should not be able to do that! Bad PR. We are not impressed.

Love this place and always make a point to visit it when I’m in Albans. It’s right in the center of the city so it’s so convenient. It’s not massive but has very limited work. My fav part is the courtroom cafe! Great place to grab coffee and snack. Staff is very very pleasant

Wonderful place and such great exhibitions and so local. Recent (2019) Barbara Hepworth installation is serene. Well done all 2022- saw another art installation by Anna Ray on fabric and thread. Wonderful. Arriving & Belonging (Jewish history), intro by Daisy Cooper MP St Alban's, was moving as was the video on Pauline Stapleton and information on immigration of the Windrush Generation.

Not overly impressed with the grief gallery but if it helped the artists deal with their own grief then it is excellent. The rest of the museum was average. The most interesting part was reading about the court cars and the sentence given.

An interesting little museum. A good exhibition of textile sculptures on at the moment. Chandeliers in the Assembly Rooms are very beautiful.

A little art shows and the court turn to be a coffee shop. Very cool place

Great atmosphere, cafe, and museum. A good starting point for information about St. Albans

Nice museum and gallery.kids friendly.visiting is free. We spent more than 1hour inside with 4 years old kids, love here

Found myself sheltering from the rain in this ex courthouse now museum situated in the town centre and pleased I did. There are very interesting historic interests of not only of the town's Roman heritage but also the characters and industries that built the town. Should you visit, take time to visit the cafe set in the old court room and the cells basement - very authentic!

The museum and art gallery are fascinating. It makes for a really nice day out. The cafe setting is great - it is one of the old courtrooms. The service was good and staff were very friendly. I would recommend a visit! The only thing we couldn't see was the underground prison cells. I think it would have been lovely to see.

Lovely day out at the museum with the kids. The cafe is nice and quality also

We were only having coffee today but we have been many times before. Having a drink in the old court is great. My history group have been to several of the exhibitions at the museum and this has become a great asset to St Albans history lovers

Lots to look at. We loved going around the cells and having our drink and food in the court, cafe was a bit pricey tho

I really enjoyed the talk on printing I attended recently. I like the exhibits recounting the history of St Albans but feel the way they're displayed lacks a little warmth.

Light and airy with excellent exhibits relating to local history. Great food from the café which you can eat both indoors in the air-conditioned 'Courtroom' or outside overlooking the market area. A difficult choice of sandwiches and cakes all freshly home-made and beautifully presented. The serving system can take sometime but hold your course and wait as the food is really worth it. I think table service would be far quicker and easier. Congratulations to the chef food is so tasty.

Current exhibition Chroniclers of History (until end October 2021) is superb. The cafe in the courtroom serves great food and is a lovely space to eat. Servers are also extremely friendly