London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [43]
Lincoln’s Inn.
There’s plenty to see at one of the oldest, best preserved, and most attractive of the Inns of Court—from the Chancery Lane Tudor brick gatehouse to the wide-open, tree-lined, atmospheric Lincoln’s Inn Fields and the 15th-century chapel remodeled by Inigo Jones in 1620. Visitors are welcome to attend Sunday services at the chapel; otherwise, to enter the buildings requires prior arrangement. | Chancery La., Bloomsbury | WC2A 3TL | 020/7405–1393 | www.lincolnsinn.org.uk | Free | Gardens weekdays 7–7, chapel weekdays noon–2:30; public may also attend Sun. service in chapel at 11:30 during legal terms | Chancery La.
Royal Courts of Justice.
Here is the vast Victorian Gothic pile of 35 million bricks containing the nation’s principal law courts, with 1,000-odd rooms running off 3½ mi of corridor. And here are heard the most important civil law cases—that’s everything from divorce to fraud, with libel in between. You can sit in the viewing gallery to watch any trial you like, for a live version of Court TV. The more dramatic criminal cases are heard at the Old Bailey. Other sights are the 238-foot-long main hall and the compact exhibition of judges’ robes. | The Strand, Bloomsbury | WC2A 2LL | 020/7947–6000 | www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk | Free | Weekdays 9–4:30; during Aug. there are no sittings and public areas close at 2:30 | Temple.
Temple Church.
Featuring “the Round”—a rare, circular nave—this church was built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century. The Red Knights (so called after the red crosses they wore—you can see them in effigy around the nave) held their secret initiation rites in the crypt here. Having started poor, holy, and dedicated to the protection of pilgrims, they grew rich from showers of royal gifts, until in the 14th century they were charged with heresy, blasphemy, and sodomy, thrown into the Tower, and stripped of their wealth. You might suppose the church to be thickly atmospheric, but Victorian and postwar restorers have tamed its air of antique mystery. It’s a fine Gothic-Romanesque church, whose 1240 chancel (“the Oblong”) has been accused of perfection. | King’s Bench Walk, The Temple, Bloomsbury | EC4Y 7BB | 020/7353–8559 | www.templechurch.com | Wed.–Sat. 11–4, Sun. 1–4; closures for special services | Temple.
University College London.
The college was founded in 1826 and set in a classical edifice designed by the architect of the National Gallery, William Wilkins. In 1907 it became part of the University of London, providing higher education without religious exclusion. The college has within its portals the Slade School of Fine Art, which did for many of Britain’s artists what the nearby Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (on Gower Street) did for actors. On view is a fine collection of sculpture by an alumnus, John Flaxman.
You can also see more Egyptian artifacts, if you didn’t get enough at the neighboring British Museum, in the Petrie Museum (020/7679–2884 | www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk | Tues.–Sat. 1–5 | Free, donations appreciated), accessed from the DMS Watson building. It houses an outstanding, huge collection of fascinating objects of Egyptian archaeology—jewelry, toys, papyri, and some of the world’s oldest garments. The South Cloisters contain one of London’s weirder treasures: the clothed skeleton of one of the university’s founders, Jeremy Bentham, who bequeathed himself to the college. Stuffed with straw and topped with a wax head, it is probably the most famous item in the UCL collection. | Malet Pl., Bloomsbury | WC1E 6BT | Euston Sq., Goodge St.
Previous Chapter | Beginning of Chapter | Next Chapter | Table of Contents
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Table of Contents
Getting Oriented | A Brief History | Top Attractions | Worth Noting
Updated by Michelle Rosenberg
The City, as opposed to the city, is the capital’s fast-beating financial heart. Easy to walk around, the “Square Mile” also has currency as a religious