Within an 11-acre enclave of beautifully maintained gardens in the heart of Central London, the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn is the largest and oldest of the four Inns of Court, dating back to 1422. The estate boasts a long and interesting history and is home to Grade I and II listed rooms and Halls, modern conference facilities and beautiful outdoor spaces.
Opened in 1845 by Queen Victoria, and later reopened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2018 after extensive refurbishment work, the Great Hall is considered to be one of the most distinguished buildings in ‘old Legal London’, designed by Philip Hardwick working in the Tudor Revival style.
On the North wall is a huge and magnificent fresco executed by G.F. Watts, the Pre-Raphaelite painter, entitled ‘Justice: A Hemicycle of Lawgivers’. It took seven years to complete in situ between 1852 to 1859 as there were days when the ‘London fog’ was too thick inside the Hall itself! Painted directly on damp plaster, it is one of very few frescos that still exist in the UK and depicts great lawgivers from history including Moses, the Prophet Mohammed, Edward I and the statues of Truth, Mercy and Justice.
On the south side of Hall you will see our ‘Bishops’ Screen’, an ornate minstrel's gallery, overlooked by stunning stained glass windows of the Royal Coat of Arms. The East and West walls are adorned with large portraits of our ‘Fire Judges’, judges who dealt with all the property claims after the Great Fire of London, and the walls’ wood panelling is made up of coats of arms from all the Inn’s ex-Treasurers and High Court Judges with the royal coats of arms or Prime Minister members’ coats of arms highlighted with gold backgrounds.
By day it is used as a dining Hall for members of the Inns of Courts, but in the evenings and weekends it is transformed into a flexible event space providing a spectacular setting for all types of events from receptions for 450 guests, dinners for 250 and award ceremonies and graduations for up to 300. Steeped in tradition and grandeur, the Great Hall provides a unique and memorable setting for your next event or wedding reception. For information on hosting your event at Lincoln’s Inn, please contact the events team: events@lincolnsinn.org.uk
