Inns of Chancery: Barnard's Inn

Antiques from London on eBay

London 1898 Silver APOSTLE SPOON Boyston & Son St. Luke
1 Mar 2010 at 9:00pm
US $95.00
End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 20:05:26 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $95.00
Buy it now | Add to watch list
Soup / Dessert Spoons Geo. Angell - London 1867-8
30 Jun 2010 at 12:12am
US $49.99
End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 22:17:48 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $49.99
Buy it now | Add to watch list

W. J. Loftie, adding to the incomplete work of Sir Walter Besant, in The Fascination of London, published in 1903, continues his survey of the Inns of Chancery with this look at Barnard's Inn:

In Holborn, opposite to the end of Gray's Inn Road, formerly stood Middle Row, an island of houses which formed a great obstruction to traffic. This was removed in 1867.

The next opening on the south side is Dyers' Buildings, with name reminiscent of some former almshouses of the Dyers' Company.

Then a small entry, with "Mercer's School" above, leads into Barnard's Inn, now the School of the Mercers' Company. The first court is smaller than that of Staple Inn, and lacks the whispering planes, yet it is redolent of old London.

On the south side is the little hall, the smallest of all those of the London Inns; it is now used as a dining-hall. In the windows is some ancient stained glass, contemporary with the building - that is to say, about 470 years old.

The exterior of this hall, with its steeply-pitched roof, is a favourite subject for artists.

Beyond it are concrete courts, walls of glazed white brick, and cleanly substantial buildings, which speak of the modern appreciation of sanitation. A tablet on the wall records in admirably concise fashion the history of the Mercers' School and its various peregrinations until it found a home here in 1894.

Before being bought by the Mercers' Company, the Inn had been let as residential chambers. It was also an Inn of Chancery, and belonged to Gray's Inn. It was formerly called Mackworth's Inn, being the property of Dr. John Mackworth, Dean of Lincoln. It was next occupied by a man named Barnard, when it was converted into an Inn of Chancery.

Next: White Horse Inn