Lincoln's Inn - Buildings and Architectural Points of Note

Buildings and Architectural Points of Note

The Inn is situated on Chancery Lane, north of Inner and Middle Temples and south of Gray's Inn. The Inn is surrounded by a brick wall separating it from the street; this was first erected in 1562, and it is said that Ben Jonson did some of the brickwork. As well as the major buildings discussed below, the Inn consists of three squares; Old Square, Old Buildings and Hardwicke buildings, first built in 1683, New Square, sometimes known as Serle Court, finished in about 1697, and Stone Buildings, partly built in 1780 by Robert Taylor and finished in 1845.

New Square was originally named Serle's Court because it was built as a compromise between the Inn and Henry Serle over ownership of the land. A compromise was made in 1682, and Serle built eleven brick sets of chambers on three sides of the square between 1682 and 1693. Alterations were made in 1843, when the open area in the middle was replaced by gardens and lawns. Because of its difficult history of ownership, some bits of the Square are still freehold, with individuals owning floors or sections of floors within the buildings. The Lincoln's Inn Act 1860 was passed directly to allow the Inn to charge the various freeholders in the Square fees.

Stone Buildings was built between 1775 and 1780 using the designs of Robert Taylor, with the exception of No. 7, which was built in 1845. The design was originally meant to be part of a massive rebuilding of the entire Inn, but this was never completed. Stone Buildings were seriously damaged during The Blitz, but their external appearance remains much the same. No. 10 was originally provided by the Inn to strengthen its ties with Chancery as the office of the Six Clerks of the Court of Chancery, with the Inn taking it over when the Clerks were abolished and the Court moved to the Royal Courts of Justice in 1882. It is currently used as the headquarters of the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry, part of the Territorial Army. Lincoln's Inn has maintained a corps of volunteers in times of war since 1585, when 95 members of the Inn made a pledge to protect Queen Elizabeth against Spain. George III gave the then-temporary unit the epithet "The Devil's Own", which remains attached to the Regiment to this day.

Old Square and Old Buildings were built between 1525 and 1609, initially running between numbers 1 and 26. Although 1 exists near the Gatehouse, the others now only run from 16 to 24, with some buildings having been merged to the point where the entrances for 25 and 26 now frame windows, not doorways. Hardwicke Buildings was built in the 1960s, and changed its name from Hale Court in the 1990s. The buildings of Lincoln's Inn in Old Square, New Square and Stone Buildings are normally divided into four or five floors of chambers, with residential flats on the top floor. The buildings are used both by barristers and solicitors and other professional bodies.