Lincoln's Inn

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VINTAGE CABINET PLATE CRIES OF LONDON YELLOW PRIMROSES
30 Jun 2010 at 5:02am
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VINTAGE CABINET PLATE CRIES OF LONDON SWEET ORANGES
30 Jun 2010 at 4:57am
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W. J. Loftie added to the incomplete work of Sir Walter Besant, in The Fascination of London, published in 1903, with this survey of Lincoln's Inn:

The old brick gateway in Chancery Lane is familiar to most Londoners.

It ranks with the stone gateway of the Hospitallers in Clerkenwell, with the tower of St. James's Palace, and with the gate of Lambeth Palace, as one of the three or four relics of the Gothic style left in London.

Even Gothic churches are scarce, while specimens of the domestic style are still scarcer.

It need hardly be said that this tower has been constantly threatened, by "restorers" on the one hand, as well as by open destroyers on the other.

It was built while Cardinal Wolsey was Chancellor, and was still new when Sir Thomas More sat in the hall as his uccessor.

The windows have been altered, and the groining of the archway has been changed for a flat roof.

It is said that the bricks of which the gate is built were made in the Coney Garth, which much later remained an open field, but is now New Square.

A pillar, said to have been designed by Inigo Jones, stood in New Square, or, as it was called from a lessee at the beginning of the eighteenth century, Searle's Court.

This ground and the site of the Law Courts formed part of Fickett's Field, the tilting-place of the Templars.

Over the arch of the gate are carved three shields of arms.

In the centre are the fleurs-de-lis and lions of Henry VIII, crowned within the garter.

On the north side are the arms of Sir Thomas Lovell, who was a bencher of the Inn, and who rebuilt the gate in 1518.

At the other side is the shield of Lacy.

It was Henry Lacy, third Earl of Lincoln, who died in 1311, by whom the lawyers are said to have been first established here.

It is certain that soon after his death the house and gardens, which before his time had belonged in part to the Blackfriars, and which he had obtained on their removal to the corner of the City since called after them, were in the occupation of a society of students of the law.

An adjoining house and grounds belonged to the Bishops of Chichester: Bishop's Court and Chichester's Rents are still local names.

Richard Sampson, Bishop in 1537, made over the estate to Suliard, a bencher of the Inn, and his son in 1580 granted it to the lawyers.

The gate is at 76, Chancery Lane, formerly New Street, and later Chancellor's Lane.

In Old Square, the first court we enter, are situated the ancient hall and the chapel, the south side being occupied by chambers, some of them ancient.

The turret in the corner, and one at the south-western corner, behind the hall, are very like those at St. James's Palace, and probably date very soon after the gate.

Here at No. 13 Thurloe, Oliver Cromwell's Secretary of State, concealed a large collection of letters, which were discovered long after and have been published.

The hall is low, and cannot be praised for any external architectural features of interest.

The brickwork, which is older by twelve years than that of the gate, is concealed under a coat of stucco.

There are three Gothic windows on each side, and the dimensions are about 70 feet by 32 feet high.

The interior is not much more imposing, but the screen, in richly-carved oak, set up in 1565, is handsome, and there is a picture by Hogarth of St. Paul before Felix.

Next: Lincoln's Inn Chapel