The Inn is located at the intersection of High Holborn and Gray's Inn Road. It started as a single manor house with a hall and chapel, although an additional wing had been added by 1591, when the first point of reference (a map drawn by Ralph Agas) was created. Expansion continued over the next few decades, and by 1586 the Pension had added another two wings around the central court. Around these were several sets of chambers erected by members of the Inn under a leasehold agreement whereby ownership of the buildings would revert to the Inn at the end of the lease.[63] As the Inn grew it became necessary (for safety purposes) to wall off the land owned by the Inn, which had previously been open to everyone. In 1591 the "back field" was walled off, but little more was done until 1608, when under the supervision of Francis Bacon, the Treasurer, more construction work was undertaken, particularly in walling off and improving the gardens and walks.[64] In 1629 it was ordered that an architect supervise any construction and ensure that the new buildings were architecturally similar to the old ones, and the strict enforcement of this rule during the eighteenth century is given as a reason for the uniformity of the buildings at Gray's Inn.[65]

During the late seventeenth century many buildings were demolished, either due to poor repair or to standardise and modernise the buildings at the Inn.[41] Many more were built over the open land surrounding the Inn, although this was controversial at the time; in November 1672 the Privy Council and Charles II himself were petitioned to order that nothing should be built on the open land, and a similar request was sent to the Lord Chancellor in May 1673.[43] From 1672 to 1674 additional buildings were constructed in the Red Lyon Fields by Nicholas Barebone, and members of the Inn attempted to sue him to prevent this. After the lawsuits failed members of the Inn were seen to fight with Barebones' workmen, "wherein several were shrewdly hurt".[66]

In February 1679 a fire broke out on the west side of Coney Court, necessitating the rebuilding of the entire row. Another fire broke out in January 1684 in Coney Court, destroying several buildings including the Library. A third fire in 1687 destroyed a large part of Holborn Court, and when the buildings were rebuilt after these fires they were constructed of brick to be more resistant to fire than the wood and plaster previously used in construction. As a result the domestic Tudor style architecture which had dominated much of the Inn was replaced with more modern styles.[67] Records show that prior to the rebuilding in 1687, the Inn had been "so incommodious" that the "ancients" were forced to work two to a chamber.[68] More of the Inn was rebuild during that period, and between 1669 and 1774 all of the Inn apart from parts of the Hall and Chapel had been rebuilt.[69]

More buildings were constructed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1941 the Inn suffered under The Blitz, which damaged or destroyed much of the Inn, necessitating the repair of many buildings and the construction of more.[2] Today many buildings are let as professional offices for barristers and solicitors with between 265,000 and 275,000 square feet of office space available.[2] There are also approximately 60 residential apartments, rented out to barristers who are members of the Inn.[3] The Inn also contains the Inns of Court School of Law, a joint educational venture between all four Inns of Court where the vocational training for barristers and solicitors is undertaken.[70]

Dewan

The Hall was part of the original Manor of Portpoole, although it was significantly rebuilt during the reign of Mary I,[71] and again during the reign of Elizabeth, with the rebuilding being finished on 10 November 1559.[72] The rebuilt Hall measured seventy feet in length, thirty-five feet in width and forty-seven feet in height, and remains about the same size today.[73] It has a hammerbeam roof and a raised dais at one end with a grand table on it, where the Benchers and other notables would originally have sat.[74] It also contains a large carved screen at one end covering the entrance to the vestibule; legend says that the screen was given to the Inn by Elizabeth I while she was the Inn's patron, and is carved out of the wood of a Spanish galleon captured from the Spanish Armada.[73] The Hall was lit with the aid of massive windows filled with the Coats of Arms of those members who became Treasurers.[71] The Benchers' table is also said to have been a gift from Elizabeth, and as a result the only public toast in the Inn up until the late nineteenth century was "to the glorious, pious and immortal memory of Queen Elizabeth".[75]

The walls of the Hall are decorated with paintings of noted patrons or members of the Inn, including Nicholas Bacon and Elizabeth I.[76] During the Second World War the Hall was one of those buildings badly damaged during The Blitz. The Treasurers' Arms and paintings had been moved to a place of safety and were not damaged; during the rebuilding after the War they were put back in the Hall, where they remain.[73] The rebuilt hall was designed by Edward Maufe, and was formally opened in 1951 by the Duke of Gloucester.[77]

Gereja kecil

The Chapel existed in the original manor house used by the Inn,[78] and dates from 1315.[79] In 1625 it was enlarged under the supervision of Eubule Thelwall,[80] but by 1698 it was "very ruinous", and had to be rebuilt.[41] Little is known of the changes, except that the barrister's chambers above the Chapel were removed.[69] The building was again rebuilt in 1893, and remained that way until its destruction during The Blitz in 1941.[73] The Chapel was finally rebuilt in 1960, and the original stained glass windows (which had been removed and taken to a safe location) were restored.[73] The rebuilt Chapel contains "simple furnishings" made of Canadian maple donated by the Canadian Bar Association.[81]

The Inn has had a Chaplain since at least 1400, where a court case is recorded as being brought by the "Chaplain of Greyes Inn".[82] During the sixteenth century the Inn began hiring full-time preachers to staff the Chapel – the first, John Cherke, was appointed in 1576.[78] A radical Puritain in a time of religious conflict, Cherke held his post for only a short time before being replaced by a Thomas Crooke in 1580.[83] After Crooke's death in 1598 Roger Fenton served as preacher, until his replacement by Richard Sibbes, later Master of Catherine Hall, Cambridge, in 1616.[83] Gray's Inn still employs a Preacher for the chapel, currently Roger Holloway, an Anglican who has served in this office since 1997.[84]

Walks

The Walks are the gardens within Gray's Inn, and have existed since at least 1597, when records show that Francis Bacon was to be paid £7 for "planting of trees in the walkes".[85] Prior to this the area (known as Green Court) was used as a place to dump waste and rubble, since at the time the Inn was open to any Londoner.[86] In 1587 four Benchers were ordered by the Pension to "consider what charge a brick wall in the fields will draw unto And where the said wall shalbe fittest to be builded", and work on such a wall was completed in 1598, which helped keep out the citizens of London.[87] In 1599 additional trees were planted in the Walks, and stairs up to the Walks were also added.[88] When Francis Bacon became treasurer in 1608 more improvements were made, since he no longer had to seek the approval of the Pension to make changes. In September 1608 a gate was installed on the southern wall, and various gardeners were employed to maintain the Walks.[89] The gardens became commonly used as a place of relaxation, and James Howell wrote in 1621 that "I hold [Gray's Inn Walks] to be the pleasantest place about London, and that there you have the choicest society".[90]

The Walks were well-maintained during the reign of William III, although the Inn's lack of prosperity made more improvements impossible.[91] In 1711 the gardener was ordered not to admit "any women or children into the Walkes", and in 1718 was given permission to physically remove those he found. At the end of the eighteenth century Charles Lamb said that the Walks were "the best gardens of any of the Inns of Court, their aspect being altogether reverend and law-abiding".[91] In 1720 the old gate was replaced by "a pair of handsome iron gates with peers and other proper imbellishments",[92] The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw few major changes, apart from the introduction of plane trees into the Walks.[93]

Perpustakaan

The Library of Gray's Inn has existed since at least 1555, when the first mention of it was made in the will of Robert Chaloner, who left some money to buy law books for the Library. The Library was neither a big collection nor a dedicated one; in 1568 it was being housed in a single room in the chambers of Nicholas Bacon, a room that was also used for mooting and to store the deed chest. The collection grew larger over the years as individual Benchers such as Sir John Finch and Sir John Bankes left books or money to buy books in their wills,[94] and the first Librarian was appointed in 1646 after members of the Inn had been found stealing books.[95] In 1669 books were bought by the Inn as an organisation for the first time,[96] and a proper catalogue was drawn up to prevent theft.[76] In 1684 a fire that broke out in Coney Court, where the Library was situated, and destroyed much of the collection. While some books were saved, most of the records prior to 1684 were lost. A "handsome room" was then built to house the Library.[67]

The Library became more important during the eighteenth century; prior to that it had been a small, little-used collection of books. In 1725 it was proposed by the Pension that "a publick Library be sett up and kept open for ye use of ye society",[97] and that more books be purchased. The first order of new books was on 27 June 1729 and consisted of "a collection of Lord Bacon's works".[97] In 1750 the Under-Steward of the Inn made a new catalogue of the books, and in 1789 the Library was moved to a new room between the Hall and the Chapel.[91] In 1840 another two rooms were erected in which to store books, and in 1883 a new Library was constructed with space to store approximately 11,000 books.[98] This was rapidly found to be inadequate, and in 1929 a new Library, known as the Holker Library after the benefactor, Sir John Holker, was opened. The library, although impressive looking, was not particularly impressive; Francis Cowper wrote that:

Though impressive to look at, the new building was something less than a success as a library. The air of spaciousness was produced at the expense of shelf room, and though in the octagon [at the north end] the decorative effect of row upon row of books soaring upwards towards the cornice was considerable, the loftiest were totally inaccessible save to those who could scale the longest and dizziest ladders. Further, the appointments were of such surpassing mag-nificence that no ink-pots were allowed in the room for fear of accidents.[99]

The building did not last very long - damage to the Inn during The Blitz completely destroyed the Library and a large part of its collection, although the rare manuscripts, which had been moved elsewhere, survived. After the destruction of much of the Inn's collection, George VI donated replacements for many lost texts.[100] A prefabricated building in the Walks was used to hold the surviving books while a new Library was constructed, and the new building (designed by Sir Edward Maufe) was opened in 1958.[101] It is similar in size to the old Holker Library, but is more workmanlike and designed to allow for easy access to the books.[99]