It is located on the western side of the grounds of Lincoln Castle and is a Grade II* listed building.

[3] After finding that the 18th century county hall was subsiding due to a mixture of local quarrying and poor construction, the justices ordered its demolition using prison labour and the commissioning of a new facility on the same site.

[3] The current building, which was designed by Sir Robert Smirke in the Gothic style and built at a cost of £40,000, was completed in 1823.

[1][4][5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with thirteen bays facing the east gate of the castle; the central section of three bays featured an arched doorway with a triple Gothic window on the first floor; the roof was crenellated and there were octagonal corner turrets.

[5] In March 1872 the courthouse was the venue for the trial and conviction of William Frederick Horry, accused of murdering his wife: Horry became the first person to be executed in the UK using the "long drop" method of execution, a technique developed by William Marwood which was faster and therefore considered more humane than the previous method, and which was subsequently universally used.