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BRIEF HISTORY DURING THE SNOW ERA (1813-58)
The Temple contains two law schools, a church and a garden. It was named after the Knights Templar, an order of crusaders who lived as monks but also fought as warriors. They had built a residence in the area in the 12th century and started construction on a round church which was to become the Temple Church. The Knights Templar were overthrown in 1312 by the Knights Hospitallers who leased part of the facility to lawyers for use as a hostel. The Crown took away the property of the Knights Hospitallers in 1539 and in 1609 King James I granted ownership of The Temple to lawyers who ran two inns on the property. As terms of the ownership, the lawyers had to maintain both the property and the round church. In 1732, the property was divided between lawyers of the two inns, with the east side being Middle Temple and the west side being Inner Temple. Space for gardens was allocated from the beginning, and remained free of buildings or vendors throughout their long existence.
LAW SCHOOLS
To become a lawyer, students had to join a loose organization called an Inns of Courts or Inns of Chancery and pay tuition. The term "inns" referred to the hostel-like houses in which the students lived. The Inns of Court were meant to educate barristers, that is, lawyers admitted to plead at the bar in the British courts. In London there were four Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Middle Temple and Inner Temple and eight Inns of Chancery: Barnard's Inn, Clement's Inn, Clifford's Inn, Furnivals Inn, Lyon's Inn, New Inn, Staple Inn, Thavies Inn. The Inns of Chancery were started to serve legal papers for all the King's courts. By the 15th century the Inns of Chancery had become preparatory schools for the Inns of Court.
With the decline in educational function, students tended to ignore the Inns of Chancery and enroll directly in the Inns of Court. As a result, the Inns of Chancery evolved into social clubs for attorneys and solicitors and residential housing associated with the Inns of Court. Furnival's and Thavies Inns were associated with Lincoln's Inn, Staple and Barnard's Inns were associated with Gray's Inn, Clement's, Clifford's and Lyon's Inns were associated with Inner Temple and the New Inn was associated with Middle Temple.
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Source: Weinreb B, Hibbert C (eds). The London Encyclopaedia, 1993.
Site in Cruchley's London Map of 1846
Click here to see more details 13 years earlier
