Enormous and inspiring terror, these ruins were in the 13C the home of Simon de Montfort. King Edward II, all dressed in black, was kept prisoner here in the great hall before being led to Berkeley Castle for his execution in 1327. Fortified by John of Gand (14 C), then residence of the counts of Leicester (end 16 C), it was destroyed after the civil war and its ivy-covered ruins inspired Walter Scott's novel Kenilworth (1862).

This redbrick town hall was completed in 1724 when statues of Charles I, Charles II and Queen Anne were placed in a series of niches and allegories of Work, Peace, Justice, Abundance and Punishment were placed on the parapet. Inside, admire the splendid Assembly Room, with an Italian ceiling offering a fine contrast with the bare classicism of the room.

Shakespeare's eldest daughter, Susanna, married a physician, John Hall, and the couple lived here until around 1616. The restored house part 16C, part 17C, contains furniture and paintings from this period, notes about the physician's patients and a small exhibition on medicine in his day.

11 large halls are built alongside a central corridor. Symphony Hall was built especially for the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.