Lincoln’s Inn’s estate comprises collegiate buildings, barristers’ chambers, commercial premises and residential apartments. The Inn is situated between
Chancery Lane and Lincoln's Inn Fields, north of
Inner and
Middle Temples and south of
Gray's Inn. Lincoln's Inn is surrounded by a brick wall separating it from the neighbourhood; this was first erected in 1562, and it is said that
Ben Jonson did some of the brickwork. The only surviving part is that on the western side between the North Lawn and the Fields. As well as the major buildings discussed below, the Inn consists of: Old Square, Old Buildings,
Stone Buildings and Hardwicke buildings. First built in 1683, New Square, sometimes known as Serle Court, finished in about 1697. New Square was originally named Serle's Court because it was built as a compromise between the Inn and Henry Serle over ownership of the land. A compromise was made in 1682, and Serle built 11 brick sets of chambers on three sides of the square between 1682 and 1693. Alterations were made in 1843, when the open area in the middle was replaced by gardens and lawns. Because of its difficult history of ownership, some parts of the Square are still freehold, with individuals owning floors or sections of floors within the buildings. The '''''' (
23 & 24 Vict. c. clxxxiv) was passed directly to allow the Inn to charge the various freeholders in the Square fees. Stone Buildings was built between 1775 and 1780 using the designs of
Robert Taylor, with the exception of No. 7, which was completed the range in the same style in 1845. The design was originally meant to be part of a massive rebuilding of the entire Inn, but this was never completed. Stone Buildings were seriously damaged during
The Blitz, but their external appearance remains much the same. From "within" it appears as a cul de sac rather than a square, the two ranges closed to the north with a third which originally contained the library. The eastern side along Chancery Lane and the western backing onto the North Lawn. These provide the standard layout of "staircases" of working chambers. From the North Lawn there is no access but the west range provides a fine institutional range of some distinction. No. 10 was originally provided by the Inn to strengthen its ties with
Chancery (which used to be held in the Old Hall) as the office of the
Six Clerks of the
Court of Chancery, with the Inn taking it back when the Clerks were abolished and the Court moved to the
Royal Courts of Justice in 1882. A former librarian reported that it was "extensively remodelled" by
Francis Bernasconi in 1800. This remodelling led to the covering of the oak beams with a curved plaster ceiling, "a most barbarous innovation". As well as its use for revels,
moots and feasts, the Old Hall was also used as a court. The
Master of the Rolls sat there between 1717 and 1724 while the Rolls Court was being rebuilt, and
Lord Talbot used it as a court in 1733. From 1737 onward it was used to house the
Court of Chancery, a practice that ended with the opening of the
Royal Courts of Justice. In 2010 the Hall was refurbished and its Crypt was improved and made more accessible by the installation of a staircase from the outside.
Chapel The first mention of a chapel in Lincoln's Inn comes from 1428. By the 17th century, this had become too small, and discussions started about building a new one in 1608. The current chapel was built between 1620 and 1623 by
Inigo Jones, and was extensively rebuilt in 1797 and again in 1883. Other repairs took place in 1685, after the consultation of
Christopher Wren, and again in 1915. The chapel is built on a fan-vaulted, open
undercroft and has acted (sometimes simultaneously) as a crypt, meeting place and place of recreation. For many years only
Benchers were allowed to be buried in the Crypt, with the last one being interred on 15 May 1852. Before that, however, it was open to any member or servant of the society; in 1829 a former Preacher was interred, and in 1780 William Turner, described as "Hatch-keeper and Washpot to this Honble. Society", was buried. The chapel has a bell said to date from 1596, although this is not considered likely. Traditionally, the bell would chime a curfew at 9 pm, with a stroke for each year of the current
Treasurer's age. The bell would also chime between 12:30 and 1:00 pm when a Bencher had died. The chapel's first
pipe organ was a Flight & Robson model installed in 1820. A substantial William Hill organ replaced it in 1856; a model designed at the peak of his skill, with thick lead and tin pipes, a set of pedals, and three manuals. The building was completed by 1845, and opened by
Queen Victoria on 30 October. The Hall is long, wide, and high, much larger than the Old Hall. The Great Hall is used for the
call to the Bar, as a dining place and for concerts arranged through the Bar Musical Society. The current Library was built as part of the complex containing the Great Hall, to the designs of Hardwick and was finished in 1845 being formally opened by Queen Victoria. At this point it was 80 feet long, 40 feet wide and 44 feet high. It was extended, almost doubled, in 1872 by
George Gilbert Scott in the same style. The ground floor contained a Court room which became part of the Library facilities when the Court of Chancery moved out of the Inn in the 1880s. It has since 2010 been utilised as a lecture room and during the developments of 2016 to 2018 became the 'interim' Members Common Room. The Library contains a large collection of rare books, including the Hale Manuscripts, the complete collection of
Sir Matthew Hale, which he left to the Inn on his death in 1676. The Library also contains over 1,000 other rare manuscripts, and approximately 2,000 pamphlets. The total collection of the Library, including textbooks and practitioners works, is approximately 150,000 volumes. The collection also includes a complete set of Parliamentary records. The Library is open to all students and barristers of Lincoln's Inn, as well as outside scholars and solicitors by application. The Library is primarily a reference library, so borrowing is restricted. The only other lending service available is offered by Middle Temple Library, which permits barristers and students of any Inn, on production of suitable ID, to borrow current editions of textbooks that are not loose-leaf – but not any other material – half an hour before closing for return by half an hour after opening the following day.
Gatehouse The Gatehouse from Chancery Lane is the oldest existing part of the Inn, and was built between 1518 and 1521. The Gatehouse was mainly built thanks to the efforts of
Sir Thomas Lovell, the Treasurer at the time, who provided at least a third of the funds and oversaw the construction itself—as a result, his coat of arms hang on the gate, along with those of the Earl of Lincoln and
Henry VIII (the king at the time). The Gatehouse is a large tower four stories high and features diagonal rows of darker bricks, along with a set of oak gates that date from 1564. The Gatehouse was restored in 1695 and again between 1967 and 1969—the arms of the Treasurers for those years (
Lord Upjohn, John Hawles and
Princess Margaret) were added to the inwards side of the Gatehouse itself. Minor repairs also took place in 1815, when the three Coats of Arms were repaired and cleaned.
New Square Lawn The New Square Lawn is surrounded by the block of New Square. It is bordered by the Lincoln Inn chambers, and is visible from the western Gatehouse. Centred on the New Square Lawn is Jubilee Fountain. After the original fountain from 1970 was removed, William Pye installed the new Jubilee fountain in 2003, to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee. The construction of the fountain was funded by David Shirley. The Jubilee fountain is a two tier fountain centered in New Square. The top level of the fountain creates arches in the air with the water, and the lower level has complementary tiny fountains. A photo of the fountain can be found on the designer's website.
East Terrace Underground development, New Library and New Teaching Facilities The Inn self-funded a major improvement and extension of its facilities between 2016 and 2018. The Inn being a
conservation area and consisting of
listed buildings could not simply add modern structures within the precincts without considerable difficulty of their impact on the current layout and planning objections by interest groups, as well indeed from members of the Inn. The improvement requirements for the Library and teaching activities were partly addressed by demolition of the Under Treasurer's House on the north side of the Library, which was a post-WW2 building, replacing it with an extension to the Reading Rooms and Book Stack. The solution of providing a 150-seat Lecture Theatre and Tutorial Rooms was to exploit the space under the large east terrace of the Great Hall. The Inn decided to name the new education suite the Ashworth Centre after Mercy Ashworth, one of the first women to be called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn. On 13 December 2018,
Queen Elizabeth II along with the
Duke of York (Royal Bencher of the Inn) officially opened the Ashworth Centre and re-opened the Great Hall following its renovation. The Great Hall was originally opened by
Queen Victoria in 1845. ==Coat of arms==