Lincoln's Inn Hall is located in Holborn, a district in central London, and is an important part of both the history of London and of England as a whole ("History of the Inn"; "Inns of Court"). It was established around 1422, though parts of it existed all the way back in the 13th century and it has no official establishment date, instead sharing an establishment date with the other Inns of Court ("History of the Inn"). It has remained at the center of Britian's legal profession since its inception. It is also depicted as the center of the corrupting fog of London in Dickens novel, Bleak House. This unflattering depiction by Charles Dickens is likely due to the long history of the Hall, both the positive and the negative.
Lincoln’s Inn is an Inn of Court, meaning it is one of the 4 institutions founded to help teach common law back in the 1400’s ("Inns of Court"; "Lincoln's Inn"). As an Inn of Court, it is an association of legal professionals including judges and barristers and was also made to house and feed students of law that went there ("Inns of Court"). During the time of Bleak House, Lincoln’s Inn also had its own Inn of Chancery, which is where the court of Chancery heard all cases of inheritance, cases which sometimes took years to resolve (Dickens; Matthews). This inefficiency and the corruption of the court is a large theme in Bleak House, and accounts heavily for Dickens satirical mocking of the location (Matthews).
England's courts of Chancery, which were all linked to Inns of Court, were criticized relentlessly all the way back to the 16th century ("Inns of Court"; Matthews). Reforms were attempted such as the reforms in 1649 during the English Civil War, or the reforms in 1706 by Lord Somers which were considered revolutionary ("Court of Chancery"). Still, all the way to the 19th century the court was considered wrought with disfunction and constant injustices ("Court of Chancery"). Poor and middle class citizens would not risk bringing a case to the Chancery for fear that they might lose all of their funds("Court of Chancery"). Despite all of the reforms, specific courts of Chancery were abolished in 1875 with the Supreme Court Adjudicature Act and were absorbed into High Court of Justice of England and Wales ("Court of Chancery").
Lincoln Inn Hall’s Inns of Chancery were Thavie's Inn and Furnival's Inn, neither of which remain as part of Lincoln Inn, as Thavie’s was sold in 1785 and Furnival’s demolished in 1818 (Rider). In the modern day, Lincoln Inn and the other Inns of Court do not operate as they once did. Their original educational purposes have become more limited, as law schools have popped up all across England and even just in London ("Court of Chancery"). Their new focus is on training their members to become barristers. All barristers in England and Wales must belong to one of the Inns of Court in order to be eligible to be called to the Bar ("Inns of Court"). Despite the changes over the years, Lincoln Inn Hall still keeps its original purpose of housing and feeding those training to become barristers as part of its organization ("Lincoln's Inn").
Works Cited
“Court of Chancery.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Sept. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Chancery.
Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. Wordsworth Editions, 1993.
Dugdale, Thomas. "New Hall and Library." 1845 <https://www.mapsandantiqueprints.com/shop/antique-prints/lincolns-inn-new-hall-london/#.YzhyjHbMJPY>
“The History of the Inn.” Lincoln's Inn, The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, 3 Sept. 2020, https://www.lincolnsinn.org.uk/about-us/the-history-of-the-inn/.
“Inns of Court.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 July 1998, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Inns-of-Court.
“Lincoln's Inn.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Sept. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%27s_Inn.
Matthews, Mimi. “Law Meets Literature: Bleak House and the British Court of Chancery.” Mimi Matthews, 14 July 2021, https://www.mimimatthews.com/2015/04/06/law-meets-literature-bleak-house-and-the-british-court-of-chancery/.
Massiot, G., and cie. Lincoln's Inn: Side view, Old Hall. 1910. <https://curate.nd.edu/show/cf95j962t7c>
Rider, Clare. “The Inns of Court & Inns of Chancery & Their Records.” Inner Temple, The Inner Temple, 1999, https://www.innertemple.org.uk/who-we-are/history/historical-articles/the-inns-of-court-and-inns-of-chancery-and-their-records/.
Swire, Can. "The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn Hall." 2016. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/18378305@N00/32181393412>