Temple and Lincoln's Inn

On this walk we visited London's legal districts.
Inns of Court are associations containing chambers of barristers. As far as I know, barristers are the highest ranked lawyers, and every barrister must be a member of one of the chambers.
Each of the Inns has library, dining and lodging facilities. In addition, there is a church or chapel. London has four Inns of Courts: Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn and Grey's Inn.



Though we could also have started from Temple station, now we got off at Blackfriars station.

The station is not far from The Black Friar Pub which is in 174 Queen Victoria Street.
Built around 1875, it has a very nice Art Deco interior. The statue of a black monk on the façade and the Black Friar name refer to the time when this part of the City was the property of Dominican monks whose monastery was hereabout.

On the other side of the street, you can see the Neoclassical and Art Deco building of Unilever House which looks to the River Thames. They started building it in 1929 and  became the main office of Unilever in 1930.

The bridge at the left, Unilever House at the right

We turned to Tudor Street, and started off toward the Temple Court which contains Inner Temple and Middle Temple Inns. 

Alsatia used to be the name of this area, which in the 15-17th Century, due to certain privileges had become haven for criminals. The authority had no right to take action here, so it was the most infamous quarter of London at that time. But it also gave refuge to Daniel Defoe in 1692, when he was wanted for some of his writings. Alsatia in 1697 had lost its this type of independence and later slowly consolidated.

Temple Avenue is the Inn's eastern border

Temple entrance from Tudor Street

The eastern entrance of the Temple can be accessed from Tudor Street
From the 12th Century until 1312 here stood the church of the Knights Templar (Temple Church) and its two halls. In 1312 the Templar order was disbanded, and their estates were confiscated, so the London one, which was given to the Knights of Saint John by the Pope. But Edward II did not accept this, and treated this area like his private estate. The Temple was divided into inside (Inner Temple) and external (Outer Temple) parts, and it formally became possession of England in 1324. The king appointed of one of his minions as head,who two years later were executed due to the influence of the queen. That same year, the king was deposed and brutally executed.in 1327.
Afterwards the Mayor of London became the owner, and in 1333 William de Langford minion of Edward III got a 10 years lease.
However, in 1337, the King leased the western part of the Inner Temple to a lawyer. Thereafter there was a sanctified and a profane (Middle Temple) area .
Once Henry VIII dissolved the religious orders, the lawyers remained there as tenants - and still are. The current lease contract's start date is 1608.

After entering we turned right and so reached Temple Church. The church featured in Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code', and since tourist interest has increased significantly.
We can see a column with a statue on the top in front of the church: two knights sharing a horse with each other which is a Templar symbol. Surprisingly, this statue has been here since 2000, and marks the place where the great Fire of London was stopped in 1666. So this is a counterpart of Sir Christopher Wren 's Monument (more about that another time), which towers on the starting point of the fire .

In front of the old, round part of Temple Chruch stands a column with an old templar symbol on the top; knights sharing a horse with each other

The church was built in the 12th Century by Templars. Originally, only the round part was built based on the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and later added the rectangular part of it.

View of the interior of the church from the old part. The famous effigies are on both sides.

Previously, the Templars had a smaller, also round-based church in Holborn, but from there they moved to the present location. The church was consecrated  in 1185 during the reign of Henry II by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. After the Great Fire of London it was renovated by Sir Christopher Wren and was added the organ as well.

Grotesque heads all over on the wall of the round part

'Memento Mori' symbol on the grave of Sir Edmund Plowden

Then we walked through beautiful yards and gardens to the Middle Temple, where the famous 16th Century Middle Temple Hall was built. A lot of interest fact is bound to this place, such as here was the first performance of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' in 1602. Probably here was where Robert Louis Stevenson - who was a member of the Middle Temple - found names for a well-known novel of him. It's thought so, because several coat of arms can be found on the famous window of the hall - the Chancellor's Window - , especially of important families' arms and two of them are of a certain Josephus Jekyll's, while another is Roburtus Hyde's...

Middle Temple Hall

The building is used for meetings and meals by the students of Middle Temple as usual. It had many famous residents: in addition to the already mentioned Stevenson, Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales, Sir Francis Drake, the 'pirate' of Queen Elizabeth I, Gandhi and Tony Blair.

The Middle Temple Hall from the garden side

The hall is between Middle Temple Lane in the East, which formerly led till the River Thames, and the Middle Temple Gardens in the West.

Middle Temple Lane from the Temple

Middle Temple Lane from the Thames

At the end of the courtyard of the Middle Temple Hall (Fountain Court) is a small fountain, which has inspired several writers, such as Dickens.

Fontain Court

From the fountain, facing the Thames we saw the Middle Temple Gardens, which might have been a garden during the time of the Templars, based on some sources.

Middle Temple Gardens

West from the Temple, near the River Thames is the Astor House, also known as Two Temple Place. We left the Middle Temple Gardens  through one of its west gate to take a look. Although it seems very old, in fact, it was built in 1895 as apartments and offices of Lord William Waldorf Astor. The exterior is early Elizabethan-style, while the interior invokes the French Renaissance. Currently it is owned by the Bulldog Trust Charity. Sometimes exhibitions are held in it, and then you can visit the house.

The model of Santa Maria on the roof of the Astor House

Columbus's ship the Santa Maria has been added to the roof to symbolize the Astor family's relation to America. Indeed, the builder's ancestor, John Jacob Astor was a businessman who founded one of the first major U.S. companies and he was the first American multi-millionaire as well.

From the Temple you can start off in several directions toward The Strand to the north, such as next to the Astor House in the cosy Milford Lane:

Millford Lane with the fence of the Astor House in the left

But if we stay on the temple, you can exit to the Devreaux Chambers, from where we got to the George Pub in The Strand.

Exit towards The Strand

George was launched in 1723 as a coffee house, transformed in 1830 to hotel, and later to pub.

The interior of the George

Its look seems to be from the 18th Century, though it was renovated in the late 1890s in that style. A headless knight is haunting supposedly in the basement, but doesn't hurt anyone.

On the other side, just opposite is the neo-Gothic building of the Royal Court of Justice. The building was inaugurated by Queen Victoria in 1882. This is the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

The Royal Court of Justice from the George

In The Strand at the eastern part of the building is the Temple Bar, which marks the official western boundary of the City. As the name implies, in the Middle Ages a barrier was here, and according to tradition, the King or Queen went through it only in the presence of the Lord Mayor.

The Temple Bar

Sir Christopher Wren's gate stood in this place in the 17-19th Century, but then, due to a road expansion it was demolished and rebuilt in a private estate in Hertfordshire in 1880. In 1984, the Temple Bar Trust repurchased it (for £1), and in 2003 they moved it next to St Paul's Cathedral so now it is the entrance of Paternoster Square.

Since 1880 there is a monument in the original site atop a dragon, which is the symbol of the City of London (see the picture above).

A little further to the east, The Strand continues as Fleet Street. The latter is Anna's big favourite, so she definitely will write about it once in another post. In our walk we did not follow it, but turned north instead to Chancery Lane and aimed Lincoln 's Inn.
Chancery Lane connects Fleet Street with High Holborn, and many interesting sites can be found here .
The Maughan Library is one of the main libraries of King's College (one of London's major universities). The 19th Century neo-gothic building was the Public Record Office until 2001, and then became the property of the University.

Maughan Library

The library was named after Sir Deryck Maughan and his wife Lady Maughan who supported the university with significant amount of money. The building was completed in 1851, designed by Sir James Pennethorne, but many alterations and additions had been made yet between 1868 and 1900. The building is grade II listed.

Roughly opposite the library is The Law Society. This is the organization of Solicitors who are lawyers also but do different things comparing with barristers.

The Hall of the Law Society

Also on Chancery Lane is located Ede & Ravenscroft's shop. The shop was founded in 1689 and  makes, sells and lends lawyers and judges formal suits since then.

The backdoor of the shop of Ede & Ravenscroft

From Chancery Lane we turned to Carey Street where the bankruptcy courts used to be. Weekdays you can go into Lincoln's Inn from this street - it was the entrance we chose that day.

Carey Street

Henry de Lacey, the earl of Lincoln donated this land to the law students in the early 14th Century. This time this area was still countryside with a pond in the middle and earlier a religious order owned it.
Thomas More was the most famous resident of this college, who became later an adviser of Henry VIII and then lord chancellor. He wrote 'Utopia', which describes the society he considered perfect. In his work kids only get crumbs, rest from the elderly; young people serve the elderly, and elderly have the responsibility to strictly punish even the slightest offense. The priest's duty is the education of children - who are owned by the Republic - to instil obedience into them and thus will play a big role in the maintenance of the state. The priests - since they have the less survival instinct - have, however, the finest women, so their offsprings are not stunted.
This is an interesting contradiction that utopia allowed the clerical marriage, and this was against the Catholic doctrine, but More opposed the divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine Aragon. As the Pope didn't allow the annulment, Henry assigned himself at the head of the English Church though had not yet completely broke with Rome. From this position he allowed himself a divorce and married Anne Boleyn. Morus resigned and didn't attend the wedding, which the king disliked. After the wedding, the Pope excommunicated Henry, who in response proclaimed himself the only head of the Church, and expected all his subjects to attest to him. As Morus refused it because he thought that lay person could not be the head of the Church, Henry imprisoned him and after his further oppositions Morus was beheaded.

The statue of Thomas More in Carey Street, close to the  Lincoln's Inn

This Inn is much more transparent, less labyrinthine than the Temple courts. First, we set off towards the Chapel and the Old Hall.

Lincoln's Inn Chapel and the Old Hall

Lincoln's Inn Chapel was built around 1620. Many mother left their babies alone at the imposing, arched undercroft beneath, to be raised by the Inn. These children were often given the first name Lincoln.

The interior of the chapel

The arches of the undercroft, under the chapel

The later built Great Hall and the library are located in the western part of the Inn. The Great Hall's role is the same as for the Middle Temple Hall, ie meals and gatherings, but concerts are held here either.

The library of the Lincoln's Inn

Over the library is the western entrance of the Inn from Lincoln's Inn Fields, which is London's largest square.

The entrance of Lincoln's Inn from Lincoln's Inn Fields

They started building the first houses in 1638 in Lincoln's Inn Fields; earlier they used this area for knightly sports and tournaments, but also for executions. Here, for example were quartered and hanged 14 members of the Catholic Babington plot against Elizabeth I in 1586 as well.

In the garden of Lincoln's Inn Fields

South-East corner of the square

The only remaining original building  can be seen on the western side of the square: Lindsey House (59-60). In the 18th Century, after the area began to deteriorate, the residents got permission to close the square, so it could start improving slowly.

Lindsay House at the right

The most famous houses are on the north side of the square, the buildings of Sir John Soane Museum (No12,13,14). Sir John, who though was a son of a simple mason, became a famous architect, designed the house himself, which became a museum after his death. We saw his mausoleum in another walk of ours.

Sir John Soane Museum

Since Sir John was a collector, he accumulated an incredible amount of artefacts in his house. The museum is not a traditional one, because it's terribly crowded. It's free to visitors, but unfortunately taking photos is not allowed. 

After visiting the museum, we walked northward to High Holborn and from there we went to the Cittie of Yorke, which we have previously mentioned. 

The Grey's Inn would be relatively easy to access from there, but we will present it another occasion. 

The Inns of Courts are worth visiting on weekdays, as they are not completely opened on weekends; in addition it is rather extinct that days, and so provides a completely different impression.