Fig Tree Court in Temple London, named for its abundance of figs, is the residence of Robert Audley in the Victorian era novel Lady Audley’s Secret. The court is located in the Inner Temple which is between Fleet Street and the Thames river. As a part of the Inner Temple—one of four Inns of Court in England—Fig Tree Court houses many people who practice law and Robert Audley, a barrister, is no exception. An Inn of Court was one of four institutions that educated legal professionals and the only body that could call a barrister to the Bar.

The Inner Temple was built in the mid twelfth century by a contingent of knights of the Military Order of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. The knights built buildings such as a round church, dormitories, storehouses, stables, chambers and dining halls. During the thirteenth century, the Temple became a financial center, beginning when the knights used the area as a place to store their treasure. Soon, lawyers moved into the Temple. Since the 1340s, the Temple has been occupied by two legal societies of two distinct communities, the “inner inn” (which attracted more men from the north, midlands and London) and the “middle in.” Both inns used a hall for meals, lectures and debates. In the sixteenth century, the inns began to thrive and the role of law practitioners in society became more important. However, in the 1660s, during the Great Fire of London, many buildings were destroyed, including Fig Tree Court, but were eventually rebuilt. Fast forward to the 19th century, around the time of Lady Audley’s Secret, when many parts of the Inner Temple were rebuilt in a more Victorian style. During this time, the Inns had been declining and their systems were more and more outdated leading to sickness and disease. The Temple deteriorated even more after attacks in World War II called The Blitz—a German bombing campaign. Fig Tree Court was destroyed in 1666 by one of these air raids. After this destruction, Fig Tree Court was consolidated into Elm Court and became a part of the Middle Temple. Today, however, the Inner Temple is back to a prospering inn of court with 8,000 members.