Trials in Westminster Hall

Westminster Hall was the setting to some of the greatest trials in British history. In 1688 the trial of the seven bishops took place. Charged with seditious libel they were found not guilty and this painting illustrates the acquittal. The painting is part of a series of frescoes on the corridor walls linking the House of Commons and the House of Lords.  The series focuses on and celebrates heroic action on the part of Royalists and Parliamentarians and most of the subjects chosen represent success of groups and individuals over dictatorial regimes.

The longest trial held in Westminster Hall and one of the most notable was that of Warren Hastings in 1788. Accused of corruption the trial lasted for seven years and although he was finally found not guilty by that point he was bankrupt having paid for his own defence.

Simon Lord Lovat was tried in 1747 for participation in the Jacobite uprisings. Found guilty he was sentenced to death on Tower Hill.

This image is a perspective view of the Law Court in Westminster Hall with both the House of Commons and House of Lords in attendance.

 The last major trial to take place in Westminster Hall was that of Viscount Melville in 1806.  The courts moved from Westminster Hall to a new building adjoining the Hall in 1827 and they moved to the Royal Courts of Justice in 1882.