The Judges' Lodgings, formerly a town house and now a museum, is located between Church Street and Castle Hill, Lancaster, Lancashire, England.

The future of the museum was put in doubt, following an announcement from Lancashire County Council that it would be closed permanently.

[2] For many years the house was used as lodgings by visiting judges attending the Assizes court at Lancaster Castle.

[11] Despite letters of protest and an on-line petition the council confirmed their decision at a meeting[12] in February 2016 and the Judges' Lodgings was told it would close its doors for the last time on 31 March.

A group of concerned citizens formed a "Friends of the Judges' Lodgings"[13] in the hopes of finding a way to allow the museum to continue.

As of 3 June 2017[update] Lancashire County Council's website states that "Negotiations are underway with a potential new operator and it is hoped they will be finalised in Autumn 2017.

[18] In[19] March 2019 Lancaster Judges' Lodgings reopened staffed by a mixture of paid staff and volunteers.

[citation needed] The first season after the reopening saw many visitors both coming from out of town and local residents keen to see the museum open once again.

There was a busy programme of events put on by the museum and the Friends which ensured that Judges' Lodgings had a very successful reopening season.

However, many of the events planned for 2020 were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the opening was delayed until the end of August 2020.

[5] The doorcase has Tuscan columns supporting blocks carved with lions' heads, a triglyph frieze containing flowers, and an open segmental pediment containing a painting of the arms of Lancashire.

By 1900, the firm was producing a complete interior decoration service but this strained the company's finances - and it was taken over by Waring of Liverpool in 1903.

The firm produced many items of furniture to Talbert's designs, including two sideboards from around 1872, on display at the Judges' Lodgings.

[28] His designs tended to be highly detailed, including bold geometric inlaid patterns, intricately carved squares of boxwood and rows of small turned spindles.

An identical piece to this cabinet is illustrated in an entry dated 8 March 1872 in Gillows' Estimate Sketch Book.

The drawing is annotated Inlaid bird panel as before, therefore it appears that a similar cabinet had been made previously.

This includes two landscapes by the impressionist Armand Guillaumin, one of the river Creuse and another of the Île de Ré, showing the influence of the artist's friend Van Gogh.