At Holborn, within the peaceful precinct of Lincoln's Inn — one of the four great Inns of Court that train English lawyers — the Old Hall has raised its brick walls since the late fifteenth century. This hall, where men pleaded, dined and feasted, was the daily setting of two of the greatest minds of the English Renaissance.
The house of the men of law
Built around 1490, the Old Hall is the oldest building of this Inn. It served for all that made up the life of a community of lawyers: meals taken in common, the debates and legal exercises (the moots), and the revels, those festivities and entertainments of the fine season. It was in this setting that the legal elite of the realm was formed, in the shadow of Westminster. Its roof and armorial glass — as well as the wooden screen designed by Inigo Jones in 1624, at the hinge of our period — make it a witness to the refinement of the Inns. (The building was largely rebuilt in the 1920s, the original fabric having become unstable.)
From Thomas More to John Donne
Two illustrious names dominate the history of the Old Hall. Thomas More, admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1496, spent a great part of his professional life here before becoming Lord Chancellor and then a martyr of his conscience, executed in 1535. A century later, the poet John Donne entered as a student in 1592; become Dean of St Paul's and one of the greatest poets in the English language, he returned to preach at the consecration of the neighbouring chapel, whose first stone he had laid in 1623. To see: the roof and armorial glass of the Old Hall, the wooden screen by Inigo Jones (1624) and the chapel of the early seventeenth century.
Did you know?
Lincoln's Inn chapel owes its foundation stone to a poet: in 1623 it was John Donne, member of the Inn and Dean of St Paul's, who laid it and preached at its consecration. Few religious buildings owe their foundation to one of the greatest voices in English verse.
Notes
Lincoln's Inn Old Hall lies at Holborn, within the precinct of Lincoln's Inn; a working Inn of Court — visitor access restricted, enquire. Chapel and gardens sometimes open.
Quiz
- What are the Inns of Court like Lincoln's Inn for?
- Training English lawyers
- Minting coin
- Crowning kings
- Which future martyr was admitted here in 1496?
- Thomas More
- John Fisher
- Thomas Cranmer
- Which poet laid the chapel's foundation stone in 1623?
- John Donne
- William Shakespeare
- Edmund Spenser