legal
Middle Temple, Middle Temple Lane, London, EC4Y 9BT
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court, exclusively entitled to Call their members to the Bar of England and Wales. We provide support, education and accomodation to barristers at every stage of their careers. Middle Temple Hall, Bench apartments, and Middle Temple Library will be open to the public on Sunday 14 September from 12-4pm. Last entry is at 3.45pm.
Temple
Charing Cross, Blackfriars
15, 26, 341, 76
Entry is via: Tudor Street, Embankment, and Fleet Street
Disabled lift available for Middle Temple Hall. Level access inside. Limited lift access to Middle Temple Library, not level access inside.
This is a very popular event with visitors every year, and at times the rooms will be very crowded. Visitors will have to wait for entry.
Construction of Middle Temple Hall began in 1562 under the auspices of Edmund Plowden, Treasurer of the Inn and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, and was completed by 1574. With an impressive double hammerbeam roof, open hearth and a high table said to be the gift of the Queen herself, it was a Hall fit for a confident, flourishing and prestigious Inn of Court.
Queen Elizabeth I is known to have visited in 1578, and at the Candlemas Feast in 1602 the first known performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night took place, recorded in the diary of John Manningham, a student at the time.
In its 450-year history, the Hall has been the backdrop to the education of countless generations of barristers, and played host to feasting, music, drama and dancing. It is also home to an array of remarkable collections, including royal portraits by Lely, Kneller and Murray, and one of the most impressive displays of heraldic art in London, in the form of painted armorial panels and stained glass, dating back to the 16th century.
Middle Temple Library is a specialist law library, providing materials for the barrister members of the Inns of Court. It was founded in 1641 with a bequest of over 6,000 titles made by Robert Ashley (1565-1641), a longstanding member of the Inn.
The Library is also home to the only known pair of Molyneux Globes, the earliest globes made in England. The celestial and terrestrial globes were orginally made in 1592, but the terrestrial globe was updated in 1603. They will be on display for visitors to see on the day.
The current Library building was designed by Sir Edward Maufe, and was built to replace the Victorian Library which was irreparably damaged during the Second World War. It was opened in 1958 by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
The Garden Room, located on Middle Temple Lane, will be open from 11:00 to 16:00, serving a variety of fresh sandwiches, pastries, salads, and cold and hot beverages. Enjoy sitting on our terrace, sampling our excellent range of wines offered from the Middle Temple Bench cellar, or perhaps enjoying some gelato, while looking out over a garden dating back over five centuries, familiar to generations of lawyers and writers such as Dickens and Thackeray, and the setting for everything from allotments and archery to balls and banqueting.
The three Bench Apartments - the Parliament Chamber, the Queen's Room and the Prince's Room - date from the 19th century. Boasting impressive moulded ceilings, carved panelling and views of the garden and the Thames, they contain some of the treasures of the Middle Temple collections, including portraits by Ramsay, De László and Romney, intricately decorated arms and armour, and a display of the Inn's finest silver, including some prized Elizabethan and Jacobean pieces. The Queen's Room was named for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Royal Bencher of the Inn from 1944 to 2002, and is graced by a portrait of Her Majesty in a Bencher's gown.
Walking tour
Join a captivating journey through the City of London with our exclusive Muslim Heritage Tour. Discover the deep connections of Salahuddin Ayubi and marvel at the UK's oldest Muslim statues, dating back 1000 years. Uncover the legacy of England’s most famous Middle Eastern immigrant and delve into fascinating tales of crime and health in history.
