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City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000
8
During a fascinating morning we trace
the history, traditions and peculiar
practices of English law – a legal
system that has been exported all around
the world. It’s a story that calls on a
colourful cast of characters from
Dr Johnson to dear old Rumpole of the
Bailey. We pass the round church of
the Knights Templar who once owned
this land hence the Temple name.
A Clerk of Chambers in the Inns of Court
is akin to the theatrical agent (or the
foreman on a building site) who allocates
cases that come in. Legend has it that
clerks of old would not read the brief but
weigh it – the heavier the paperwork, the
fatter the fee! We only visit weekdays so
that you get to see the wigged barristers
in their natural habitat. Barristers are not
unlike black cabs: hop in and the meter’s
running. Indeed it was once the practice
for barristers to have a pocket sewn into
the back of their gowns into which the
client’s solicitor would keep stuffing
money to keep them talking. It is, of
course, a very well paid profession –
something you can’t ignore on this walk
when you’ll occasionally find yourself
shimmying around a vintage Porsche or
a shiny new Aston Martin.
Legal London -
Discover the Inns of Court
This award-winning tour has been on
offer with City & Village Tours since
the beginning. For 25 years now our
guides have been introducing groups
to a fascinating area of London tucked
away out of everyday sight. It’s always
been a very popular tour and since
we turned it into a Together Tour
including morning coffee with biscuits
and a carvery lunch in an iconic Fleet
Street pub it has moved even further
up the list of Top Ten Tours.
I can very safely say that if you book
this day for your folk you are going to
be a very popular group organiser!
You can start the day at 10.30am and
finish at 4.45pm or come and begin
with an early lunch (including a cup
of coffee) and without overworking
you we can include all the elements
of this tour and include a tea break
before you head for home not long
after 5.00pm.
I’ll describe the 10.30am to 4.45pm day
but remember you’ll see and do all of the
tour elements even if you opt to come
and start with an early lunch at midday,
albeit in a slightly different order. You
can also opt to reduce the walking by
having a coach tour only after lunch.
Our guide will meet you on Aldwych at
10.30am to begin with morning coffee
and biscuits included in the tour fee at a
traditional Fleet Street pub that by dint
of being slap bang opposite the High
Court appears on the television news
most nights of the week – it’s the shot of
the protagonists coming out of the court
and walking across the zebra crossing
towards the black and white Tudor style
timbered building. Up and down the
country during the teatime news there
are people who point at the pub and
say: “I’ve eaten there, it was on that
wonderful day out that (enter your name
here) organised”.
During the morning we visit the Inner
and Middle Temples, that came into
being in the Middle Ages as places to
learn the law. Students came here to
the gentle slopes by the River Thames
conveniently located between commerce
in the City and royalty at Westminster
to study, live and worship, much as they
did at about the same time at the colleges
of Oxford and Cambridge. Just like our
ancient universities the Inns of Court
are composed of a series of quadrangles
with lodgings and work places known as
chambers as well a library, chapel and a
hall for communal dining.
ity & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000