Beaumaris Courthouse Museum

The Beaumaris Courthouse Museum occupies a proper Victorian building in the heart of Beaumaris town centre, and it's the kind of place that stops you dead if you're interested in how justice actually worked in 19th-century Wales. You're looking at original courtroom fixtures, period furniture, and exhibits that lay bare the legal cases that mattered to local people - not the sanitised version you'd find in a textbook. The building itself deserves a look: all red brick and solid Victorian confidence, the sort of structure that still commands respect on the high street.

It's a fairly compact visit, probably forty minutes to an hour if you're reading properly rather than skimming. History enthusiasts will get genuine value from it, particularly those interested in Welsh social history and the mechanics of the justice system. Families with older children who aren't bored by dusty exhibits might find the courtroom itself absorbing - there's something about sitting where actual trials happened that engages even reluctant teens.

Beaumaris itself is a cracking base for a caravan holiday on Anglesey. If you're staying at Kingsbridge or Wonderfully Wild, both within easy reach, you can pop into town for a browse. The courthouse museum slots neatly between a walk along the seafront and lunch at one of the cafes scattered about. It's free entry and worth fitting in, though don't expect lengthy queues - this isn't a major tourist draw, which is rather the point. The town's medieval castle is the showstopper; the courthouse museum is the understated follow-up that actually tells you something worth knowing.