In 1346 the Knights Hospitallers formally leased out Inner and Middle Temple Fleet St to practitioners who called themselves the Society of the Temple. On a square mile in the City of London, each Inn was very exclusive.
Oxford University had already been founded late in the C12th and Cambridge soon after. Yet despite the importance of these two medieval seats of learning, no other university was built until the C19th. Thus the Inns of Court in London together acted as the city's de facto university, founded on collegiate standards. Each inn had a master, tutors, chapel, lectures, exams and academic regulations.
Dancing was a desirable culture for upper-class gentlemen and so the revels were held on feast days. The dances were large affairs and the feasts were grand: In 1574 there were 769 barristers, staff and students in the Inns.
The average age at admission was 17, half of them having previously attended University. Although some wealthy merchants were able to send their sons to the costly Inns, the majority of students were sons of the landed gentry.
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Oxford University had already been founded late in the C12th and Cambridge soon after. Yet despite the importance of these two medieval seats of learning, no other university was built until the C19th. Thus the Inns of Court in London together acted as the city's de facto university, founded on collegiate standards. Each inn had a master, tutors, chapel, lectures, exams and academic regulations.
Dancing was a desirable culture for upper-class gentlemen and so the revels were held on feast days. The dances were large affairs and the feasts were grand: In 1574 there were 769 barristers, staff and students in the Inns.
The average age at admission was 17, half of them having previously attended University. Although some wealthy merchants were able to send their sons to the costly Inns, the majority of students were sons of the landed gentry.
Lincoln's Inn
The Utter Barristers were practitioners who used their chambers as law offices, and who taught younger members of the Inns. Students also attended courts at Parliament, and participated in moots/mock trials and debates. Judges and senior practitioners formed a governing body for each Inn of Court, and were called the benchers. Readers lectured during the intervals between legal terms.
Students began as Inner Barristers. After 7 years, they could be confirmed as an Utter Barrister, qualified member of the Bar. Only then could they be admitted to a set of chambers. Senior barristers who become King’s or Queen's Counsels “took silk” gowns.
Today the Inns still have the exclusive right to admit barristers to the profession. Even now almost all chambers are still in the Inns of Court. But note that modern students no longer have to sleep in the Inns.
The majority of gentlemen who attended the Inns did not go on in a legal career. By the late C16th, only 15% of students pursued studies long enough to be admitted to the bar. For the rest, the Inns served as a sort of finishing school, enjoy London’s opportunities with peers and learn law.
Middle and Inner Temple Inns, geographically and historically so close, are collectively known as The Temple. The red brick gate way, which has been attributed to Wren 1685, leads into Middle Temple Lane. Middle Temple (1560s) survives with one of the best Elizabethan interiors in London. The hall’s interior is spanned by a double hammer beam roof, officially opened by Queen Elizabeth I. And she donated a gift of the 30' long high table made from a single oak. Note the spectacular carved oak Armada screen, from the wood of a captured Spanish galleon. The loveliest parts of Middle Temple are the library, dining hall and chapel.
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Library in Inner Temple
In Inner Temple, the library is huge. In addition to the English legal material, Inner Temple holds a specialist collection of Commonwealth countries’ legal materials. The collection includes British history, Literature, Genealogy and Heraldry. Inner Temple hall is perfect for legal or public banqueting.
Early Elizabethan drama owed much to the performance of plays in these halls at festive seasons. The first English tragedy was written by two members of the Inn in 1561, and performed in the Inner Temple Hall. The first regular English comedy was first acted in Gray's Inn Hall, 5 years later. Comedy of Errors was performed in Gray's Inn Hall in 1594, between dancing and revelry. It was for a Christmas revel at the Middle Temple that Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night 1601 which the bard himself performed. Shakespeare made mention of the Temple in Henry VI, where he says that the white [York] and red roses [Lancaster], used as badges in the War of the Roses, were plucked in Middle Temple Gardens.
The two Inns share the round Temple Church off Fleet Street. Built to the Templar pattern in 1160, it copied the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem. It had a round nave, oblong choir and piers of black polished marble, Norman west door, priests' hall and cloister. There are 9 marble Associates monuments, in full knightly gear.
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Temple Church
The grandest Inn, Gray's Inn in Holborn High St was founded only 25 years later (1371). Gray’s has a small but lovely hall, and a handsome cupola. Gray’s has a lovely C17th gateway and its library has one of the most complete law books collections. Their amazing Spanish Armada carved screen came from Elizabeth I’s Lord High Admiral!
Although the Law Society is based in Gray's Inn, the costs for running this organisation are provided by all four inns collectively. The Law Society's main responsibilities are: education of barristers, scholarships, chambers and publication of professional literature.
The most recent of the Inns, Lincoln's Inn Chancery Lane, was first mentioned in 1422 documents and named after the Earl of Lincoln. Note the Tudor gatehouse (1518) and the chapel attributed to Inigo Jones. The original Old Hall was extended twice.
Lincoln's Inn Fields were laid out in 1618 by Inigo Jones. It was the largest square in London, and the most fashionable. In 1640s it was agreed that smart houses could be built around the square, but that the greenery would never be ruined. It all feels rural!
The neo-Gothic Royal Courts of Justice in Fleet St is modern (1874-82) because, till then, Westminster Palace Hall served as the King's Courts of Law. Thus there had been no need for an extra, purpose-built creation. Enter the huge central hall of the Royal Courts, then sit in many of the court rooms to hear civil cases. Criminal cases are heard in Old Bailey.
For 1000 years hideous Newgate Prison was the site where public executions were routinely held. First mentioned in King John's reign and then in the reign of Henry III, the King expressly commanded the sheriffs of London to repair it. When Newgate Prison was demolished, Old Bailey was erected immediately, complete with the bronze Goddess of Justice on the dome. Altogether there are 18 courts in the Central Criminal Court complex.
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Old Bailey
Chancery Lane, between High Holborn and Fleet Streets, was where lawyers bought their books, were outfitted for court and drank wine. The pub opposite the Royal Courts of Justice was once a coffee house for young lawyers.
Then the Public Record Office, the nation's archives of official records, once housed in the Tower of London. It holds important national material: official documents, diplomatic correspondence and central governmental decisions. The Public Record Office looks like a Tudor fortress but it is actually quite modern (1850s). Only postgraduate students and researchers can get access to this building. But the Public Record Office Museum is open to all.
See Rumpole of the Bailey which was filmed in the Inns.
The Utter Barristers were practitioners who used their chambers as law offices, and who taught younger members of the Inns. Students also attended courts at Parliament, and participated in moots/mock trials and debates. Judges and senior practitioners formed a governing body for each Inn of Court, and were called the benchers. Readers lectured during the intervals between legal terms.
Students began as Inner Barristers. After 7 years, they could be confirmed as an Utter Barrister, qualified member of the Bar. Only then could they be admitted to a set of chambers. Senior barristers who become King’s or Queen's Counsels “took silk” gowns.
Today the Inns still have the exclusive right to admit barristers to the profession. Even now almost all chambers are still in the Inns of Court. But note that modern students no longer have to sleep in the Inns.
The majority of gentlemen who attended the Inns did not go on in a legal career. By the late C16th, only 15% of students pursued studies long enough to be admitted to the bar. For the rest, the Inns served as a sort of finishing school, enjoy London’s opportunities with peers and learn law.
Middle and Inner Temple Inns, geographically and historically so close, are collectively known as The Temple. The red brick gate way, which has been attributed to Wren 1685, leads into Middle Temple Lane. Middle Temple (1560s) survives with one of the best Elizabethan interiors in London. The hall’s interior is spanned by a double hammer beam roof, officially opened by Queen Elizabeth I. And she donated a gift of the 30' long high table made from a single oak. Note the spectacular carved oak Armada screen, from the wood of a captured Spanish galleon. The loveliest parts of Middle Temple are the library, dining hall and chapel.
In Inner Temple, the library is huge. In addition to the English legal material, Inner Temple holds a specialist collection of Commonwealth countries’ legal materials. The collection includes British history, Literature, Genealogy and Heraldry. Inner Temple hall is perfect for legal or public banqueting.
Early Elizabethan drama owed much to the performance of plays in these halls at festive seasons. The first English tragedy was written by two members of the Inn in 1561, and performed in the Inner Temple Hall. The first regular English comedy was first acted in Gray's Inn Hall, 5 years later. Comedy of Errors was performed in Gray's Inn Hall in 1594, between dancing and revelry. It was for a Christmas revel at the Middle Temple that Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night 1601 which the bard himself performed. Shakespeare made mention of the Temple in Henry VI, where he says that the white [York] and red roses [Lancaster], used as badges in the War of the Roses, were plucked in Middle Temple Gardens.
The two Inns share the round Temple Church off Fleet Street. Built to the Templar pattern in 1160, it copied the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem. It had a round nave, oblong choir and piers of black polished marble, Norman west door, priests' hall and cloister. There are 9 marble Associates monuments, in full knightly gear.
The grandest Inn, Gray's Inn in Holborn High St was founded only 25 years later (1371). Gray’s has a small but lovely hall, and a handsome cupola. Gray’s has a lovely C17th gateway and its library has one of the most complete law books collections. Their amazing Spanish Armada carved screen came from Elizabeth I’s Lord High Admiral!
Although the Law Society is based in Gray's Inn, the costs for running this organisation are provided by all four inns collectively. The Law Society's main responsibilities are: education of barristers, scholarships, chambers and publication of professional literature.
The most recent of the Inns, Lincoln's Inn Chancery Lane, was first mentioned in 1422 documents and named after the Earl of Lincoln. Note the Tudor gatehouse (1518) and the chapel attributed to Inigo Jones. The original Old Hall was extended twice.
Lincoln's Inn Fields were laid out in 1618 by Inigo Jones. It was the largest square in London, and the most fashionable. In 1640s it was agreed that smart houses could be built around the square, but that the greenery would never be ruined. It all feels rural!
The neo-Gothic Royal Courts of Justice in Fleet St is modern (1874-82) because, till then, Westminster Palace Hall served as the King's Courts of Law. Thus there had been no need for an extra, purpose-built creation. Enter the huge central hall of the Royal Courts, then sit in many of the court rooms to hear civil cases. Criminal cases are heard in Old Bailey.
For 1000 years hideous Newgate Prison was the site where public executions were routinely held. First mentioned in King John's reign and then in the reign of Henry III, the King expressly commanded the sheriffs of London to repair it. When Newgate Prison was demolished, Old Bailey was erected immediately, complete with the bronze Goddess of Justice on the dome. Altogether there are 18 courts in the Central Criminal Court complex.
Chancery Lane, between High Holborn and Fleet Streets, was where lawyers bought their books, were outfitted for court and drank wine. The pub opposite the Royal Courts of Justice was once a coffee house for young lawyers.
Then the Public Record Office, the nation's archives of official records, once housed in the Tower of London. It holds important national material: official documents, diplomatic correspondence and central governmental decisions. The Public Record Office looks like a Tudor fortress but it is actually quite modern (1850s). Only postgraduate students and researchers can get access to this building. But the Public Record Office Museum is open to all.
See Rumpole of the Bailey which was filmed in the Inns.