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A political history of Britain in the places where it happened: parliament and palace, courts and counting houses, and the streets where people pushed back.
The Templars' ground, held by lawyers since 1388 on terms James I set in 1608.
Law & justice
There are four Inns of Court in London - Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple - and between them they hold the exclusive right to Call a student to the Bar, which is the ceremony that makes a barrister. They grew out of the medieval lodgings where lawyers lived, ate and taught within walking distance of the royal courts at Westminster. None of the four claims to be older than the others. They are landlords, libraries and dining societies rather than universities, and they have never stopped being any of those things.
The Temple is named for the Knights Templar, who built the round church at the middle of it and held the ground until the order was suppressed in 1312. The Inner Temple has been a distinct society of lawyers here since at least 1388, and it shares Temple Church with the Middle Temple, along with the terms on which both of them hold the place: in 1608 James I granted the Temple to the two Inns jointly and in perpetuity, on condition that they house and educate lawyers and maintain the church and its Master. They still do, which makes it one of the oldest working leases in England. The Blitz destroyed the hall, the church and most of the chambers, and the rebuilding was only finished in 1959 - which is why so much of a very old place looks post-war.
| Monday | 12:30 – 15:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 12:30 – 15:00 |
| Wednesday | 12:30 – 15:00 |
| Thursday | 12:30 – 15:00 |
| Friday | 12:30 – 15:00 |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
Hours from the page that lists them, checked 7 September 2026.
The hours are the Inner Temple Garden, closed on bank holidays. The lanes and courts of the Temple are open on weekdays; the hall is not.
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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.