The historical Inns of London

This is the King's College London library, originally built in 1851 as the Public Record Office. The grade II listed building was bought by the University in 2001 and converted to become their library. I would have loved to gone inside to see it.

The Middle Temple gardens, is so peaceful and quiet here you don't feel like you're in the centre of London. Yet if you walk a minute south you're by the River Thames and a minute north back in the buzz of central London

One of the many gorgeous buildings in the Middle Temple


Lincoln's Inn Great Hall and the Library on the right, this is available for group tours only. However, just viewing it from the outside is quite is quite remarkable.

The Chapel at Lincoln's Inn dates back to 1623 and as a place of worship open to the public. It's a lovely intimate place to just sit and soak in the history embedded in this remarkable building in London


The Undercroft of Lincoln's Inn Chapel is in my opinion the most beautiful place here. It's kind of weird to say it's beautiful given this is where the dead are buried. If you look closey at the ground, they are the headstones of the graves.

Last year I wrote a post about The history and tour of the law of England. Unfortunately that time I didn't have enough time to walk around as much as I would have liked. Last week I was in London again, and decided to do another walk around

As a little background, UK has a unique legal system, and one feature is the distinction between barristers and solicitors. Both are lawyers, but only barristers can argue cases in the senior courts. Solicitors can't do that. So barristers are considered a more senior and prestigious of the two. Barristers train at places called the Inns, there are four of them all based in London. You have to belong to one of these Inns in order to qualify as a barrister. The four Inns are unique in that they are not created formally by anyone, not even by the King from the old days. They have no constitution. These associations started to exist sometime around the 12th century when groups of lawyers worked together. These lawyers were often backed by wealthy lords of the country or the Knights Templar (if you watched the movid Da Vinci Code you would have heard of them) and occupied many buildings in central London. Then they started to teach law to students and they decided if a student was qualified to become a lawyer and enter their prestigious circle.

Over the years, four main clusters (Inns) developed, and since they'd been training and qualifying students for centuries, they've continued to do so to this day, even though no one appointed or gave them the authority to do so. It's become 'official' in the UK, and many commonwealth countries, that if you want to become a barrister, you have to join one of the four Inns in London, and only them can 'call you to the bar' meaning they can allow you to qualify as a barrister.

Last week I went to two of these Inns. The Middle Temple and Inner Temple I went to last time, there are next to one another. This time I went to the Inner Temple Gardens, it's a secluded park next to the Inns, and the River Thames is just on the other side. The Garden is in a slightly elevated position from the road, and you can't hear any traffic at all. There's no modern facilities inside the park, just some benches and a well kept garden. When faced with these the grand buildings, you forget you exist in modern day society in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Next I went to Lincoln's Inn. I passed by this last time but didn't enter the premises. Lincoln's Inn is the largest of the four Inns and records of it's existence dates back to 1422, but it's believe they've been around even before that. Most of the buildings at the Inns are not accessible to the public as either people work inside, or because they have historical significance and can't just allow anybody to wander around. The exception is the Chapel. I'm not religious, but I am grateful for Him to embrace and share with the public.

The Undercroft underneath the Chapel is my favourite place. It's kind of weird to say this because this is where the most senior members, the Benchers are buried. But honestly, how can one not be mesmerised by the vault ceiling? It was also known in the eighteenth century as a place where mothers left their babies if they were unable to care for them. These foundling children, as they were known, were usually then cared for by the Inn, at least initially, and were given the surname Lincoln. _{Source : The Lincoln's Inn}

If you're ever in London, I highly recommend a visit to the four Inns, they're true little gems that the locals don't seem bothered with and not many tourists are aware of.

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