Entrance to Middle Temple Hall

Entrance to Middle Temple Hall

James Savage (1779-1852)

1831

Red brick with stone dressings

Inns of Court, London

An old verse enumerating the main charms of the Inns of Court ends, "The Inner Temple for a garden / And the Middle for a Hall" (qtd. in Bellot 282). Middle Temple Hall itself is Elizabethan, built 1562-1572, and opened by Elizabeth I in 1576. It is thought to have been a prototype for the Great Hall (image) at Trinity College, Cambridge (see Ruda, Preface). Externally, it has undergone some changes, one of them being the erection of this impressive entrance tower by James Savage, when he was surveyor/architect to the Middle Temple.

The novelist, R. D. Blackmore (the author of Lorna Doone) joined the Middle Temple to study for the Bar in 1849 [DRB]

[The rear of Middle Temple Hall and Middle Temple Gardens]

Photograph by David R. Blackmore

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]