Middle Temple
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Part of Middle Temple c.1830 as drawn by Thomas Shepherd. The hall is beneath the cupola. |
The
Middle Temple is one of the four neighbouring
Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English bar as
barristers. (The others are the
Inner Temple,
Gray's Inn and
Lincoln's Inn.) It is near the
Royal Courts of Justice, within the
City of London but is outside the jurisdiction of the
Corporation of London, being a historic
extra-parochial area.
Following the separation of
Canon law and
common law in the 13th century, the Inns of Court originated as hostels and schools for the emerging class of lawyers. The Middle Temple is the western part of "The Temple", the headquarters of the
Knights Templar until they were dissolved in
1312; the awe-inspiring
Temple Church still stands as a
Royal Peculiar and the parish church of the Inner and Middle Temples. There has never been an "Outer Temple", apart from a modern office block of that name - an order of
1337 refers to repairing the lane "through the middle of the Court of the Temple", which became known as Middle Temple Lane and presumably gave its name to the Inn.
Middle Temple Hall is at the heart of the Inn, and the Inn's student barristers are required to Keep Term by dining there, followed by lectures or debates, for a minimum number of nights for several terms. However there is a long tradition of revelry:
Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night was first presented here, and in the Christmas Revels judges, barristers and students have poked fun at each other for centuries.
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Combined coat of arms of the four Inns of Court. The Middle Temple's arms are at top right |
The Inns ceased to be responsible for
legal education in
1852, although they continue to provide supplementary training. Most of the Inn is occupied by barristers' offices, known as "chambers", and there are a few residential sets of chambers. One of the Middle Temple's main functions now is to provide support for new entrants to the profession. This is done through the provisions of Scholarships (£1million in 2005), subsidised accommodation both in the Temple and in Clapham, and by providing events at which junior members may meet their more senior colleagues for help and advice. A Scholarship Fund Appeal has recently raised £2million of a £5million target. Lord Phillips, the Lord Chief Justice, is Patron of the Appeal. More details are available from the website.
In all Inns, there are three categories of member: the self-elected
Masters of the Bench, or Benchers, are addressed as Master and are generally judges or silks (
Queen's Counsel); the
Barristers are those who have satisfied the educational requirements and have been called to the bar by the Inn (and are thereby accepted by the judges as qualified to practice in the Courts); and the
Students who supposedly benefit from the
propinquity of the barristers, although in practice few barristers choose to dine in Hall. A greater number of barristers choose to lunch in Hall, although those that do tend to be only civil practitioners as there are no criminal courts close to the Temple, and few criminal barristers have the luxury of days spent working in chambers. There are an increasingly large number of students that lunch in Middle Temple hall, especially on a Friday. Barristers no longer cease their membership of the Inn when elevated to the judicial Bench; solicitors have never been eligible for membership at all, even if their offices are within the Inn.
In 2004, the Inn's team won the
World Universities Debating Championship.
Middle Temple Hall is also a popular venue for banqueting, weddings, receptions and parties. In recent years it has become a much-used film location - the cobbled streets, historic buildings and gas lighting give it a unique atmosphere.
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Middle Temple website*
Middle Temple Banqueting website*
Temple Church website
