I received an offer from Nottingham for a phd in law but did not get the scholarship. I have also applied to other universities who are not as good and they are also interested. I don't know which one is more important: funding or the prestige of the university.

I've said elsewhere that I would caution against doing a full time PhD unfunded as the employment opportunities at the other end are slim, so it can be a dubious investment of personal resources.

However, it depends on whether your post PhD plans are academia or something else. That will affect the decision you need to make.

An important question is whether you have the money to support yourself full time for 3-4 years? You probably won't be able to work while doing a PhD.