Legal and Illegal London

Well, more of the legal than the illegal, I think, but without the latter there would not be the former, so both are important ...

I'm just back from another excellent London Walk, this time through the four Inns of Court, Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Middle and Inner Temple. This time we were guided by Angela (the link is a recording of Angela giving another tour, from the London Walks website). She had a good, dry wit. We started round the corner from Holborn Tube Station, in the second oldest square in London. Lincoln's Inn Fields used to be just that, fields, owned by the Templar Knights before the were disbanded. After some interesting history while looking at the picturesque buildings that surround the square - I think the first of their type in London - we walked through the beautiful gardens, where we learnt the not so beautiful origins of the word "gala" - a gala day used to be a gallows day, a day where people were being hung, a grand day out for all the family. The slightly more palatable Sir John Soane's Museum was also pointed out - I must go and visit that one day.

From there, we walked across to the Inns of Court, where we wandered from one to another, admiring and admiring, never ceasing to be uplifted and entertained, overcome by the ornateness of the architecture or the sublimeness of the gardens. We learnt about the process of being called to the Bar, or becoming a solicitor. We heard about some of the more well known people who have belonged to each of the Inns. We wandered through Staple Inn as well, one of the Inns of Chancery, and passed by the Temple Church again (closed this time). One of the most interesting stories explained the meaning of John Donne's famous line, "ask not for whom the bell tolls" - the benchers were people with a certain position in the law courts, and when they died, a bell would be tolled. Barristers (I think) would send a junior clerk to find out who had died, and therefore what position had become vacant. Another particularly exciting find was the Ede & Ravenscroft office, familiar from my graduation documents - they also supply gowns and wigs as well as gowns and mortar boards. Unfortunately no wigs were on show today, but Angela gave a vivid description of the legal dress worn by different types of lawyers.

Our two hour tour ended up at the Royal Courts of Justice. I went inside, and they really are beautiful - the architect always wanted to build a cathedral, but was never asked to build one, so when he was given the commission for the courts he decided this would be his cathedral. They are certainly soaring and ornate. Unfortunately there were no court cases in session, but it was interesting to look through the glass panels on the doors into the courtrooms themselves.

Then a walk through the rain, and back home again. Another great day, courtesy of London Walks!