Power & Politics

Lincoln's Inn

The Inn with the oldest records of the four, and the hall where Bleak House opens in fog.

Law & justiceFree to enter

Also in Beautiful Streets and Literary London.

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.

Lincoln's Inn has the oldest records of the four. Its Black Books, the minutes of the governing council, run from 1422, and the first entries show a body that was already organised and disciplined rather than a group of men sharing rooms. The Old Hall of the 1490s is where the Court of Chancery sat for centuries, and where Dickens opens Bleak House: 'Fog everywhere... at the very heart of the fog, sits the Lord High Chancellor in his High Court of Chancery.' The chapel above its open undercroft was built between 1620 and 1623, and John Donne, by then Dean of St Paul's, preached at its consecration. Thomas More was a student here.

Where

Lincoln's Inn, WC2A 3TL

Nearest station

Chancery Lane · 2 min walk

Hours

Hours from the page that lists them, checked 5 September 2026.

The Chancery Lane and Carey Street gates are open to the public on weekdays; the Old Hall and chapel are seen on the Inn's tours.

NearbyPower & Politics

• Royal Courts of Justice3 min walk
• Statue of John Wilkes3 min walk
• Gray's Inn4 min walk

NearbyOther Categories

• The London Silver VaultsClassic British Shops1 min walk
• Gresham College lecturesWhat’s On3 min walk
• Hunterian MuseumMuseums3 min walk

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