The Old Market Square is the geographic and social centre of Nottingham — a 12,000-square-metre paved expanse that has hosted markets, executions, suffragette rallies, and ice rinks. At the eastern end stands the Council House, a Portland-stone Beaux-Arts pile finished in 1929 with a 200-foot dome and a pair of stone lions out front, known locally as the Left Lion and Right Lion (the Left Lion is the traditional meeting point for any first date in Nottingham).
The square hosts the city's Christmas market, summer beach (yes, sand is trucked in), and the Goose Fair preview every October. The arcaded shopfronts of Long Row along the north side date in part to the 18th century and are worth a slow look.