Great Hall, Lincoln's Inn, London

The Great (or New) Hall

Philip Hardwick, with Philip Charles Hardwick

1843-45

Lincoln's Inn

London, WC2.

Source: Wikipedia

Other Views and Related Material

Exterior, the Great (or New) Hall

South end of the Great Hall

Close-up of Philip Hardwick's initials, and the date of this part of the building

Lincoln's Inn Library

Other end of Library

Descriptions of fog in Bleak House

(Lincoln's Inn site) Virtual tour of the Great Hall

On the west of Chancery Lane, near the Law Society and right behind the Royal Courts of Justice, Lincoln's Inn is one of the four London Inns of Court, along with Gray's Inn, Middle Temple and Inner Temple. Its oldest surviving building is the late-fifteenth-century Old Hall (see "History of Lincoln's Inn Fields"), so the Hardwicks' hall is known as New Hall despite its crenellations, diapering, mullions and generally picturesque appearance. Lincoln's Inn Library is a matching building in the same complex, at the northern end of the Great Hall. This was extended eastwards in 1871-2 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. As James Stevens Curl explains, "Tudor Gothic seems to have found favour for use in educational buildings, workhouses, almshouses and the like" (87n.). The Great Hall is is a particularly fine example of the style, arguably the most impressive in the capital. It is also noted for its timber-beamed and panelled interior.

References

Curl, James Stevens. Victorian Architecture. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1990.

History of Lincoln's Inn Fields (Camden Council site). Viewed 28 October 2009.

Last modified 28 October 2009