Lincoln's Inn Gatehouse — 500 Years of Legal History
The Lincoln's Inn Gatehouse on Chancery Lane in London is the oldest surviving structure in the Inn, built between 1518 and 1521 by Tudor statesman Sir Thomas Lovell. This four-story brick tower features oak gates from 1564 and coat of arms carvings. Playwright Ben Jonson allegedly worked on its brickwork, and the gatehouse rooms were reputedly occupied by Oliver Cromwell in 1617.
London · from the walk “Secrets of Lincoln's Inn Fields” · audio ~3 min · Generated
Lincoln's Inn Gatehouse, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 3TL
- Sir Thomas Lovell funded at least one-third of the construction costs for the Lincoln's Inn Gatehouse between 1518 and 1521.
- The four-story Lincoln's Inn Gatehouse features historic oak gates that date from 1564.
- Seventeen former Prime Ministers, including Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, were members of Lincoln's Inn.
- Marjorie Powell became the first female member of London's Lincoln's Inn in 1920.
Who built the Lincoln's Inn Gatehouse on Chancery Lane?
Look at this grand Tudor doorway on Chancery Lane. You're standing before the oldest surviving structure in all of Lincoln's Inn... and one of only a handful of ancient gatehouses still standing anywhere in London.......... This gatehouse is the oldest existing part of the Inn, built between fifteen eighteen and fifteen twenty-one. But the story of who built it... is far more dramatic than the brickwork suggests.......... The gatehouse was mainly built thanks to the efforts of Sir Thomas Lovell, the Treasurer at the time, who provided at least a third of the funds and oversaw the construction himself. Now, Lovell was no ordinary benefactor. A Lincoln's Inn trained lawyer, he was strongly Lancastrian in sympathy... so Lancastrian, in fact, that he'd had to flee to Brittany to join Henry Tudor during the reign of Richard the Third. He returned with Henry, fought at Bosworth Field, and rose to become Speaker of the House of Commons, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. This gatehouse was built by a man who helped Put the Tudors on the throne!......... Look up. Lovell incorporated his own family coat of arms above the entrance arch, alongside the arms of Henry the Eighth and the Earl of Lincoln. The date, fifteen eighteen, can still be read below the arms.......... The gatehouse was constructed with bricks dug and made on the site itself. And here's a wonderful legend. One story, which may well be true, says that playwright Ben Jonson worked as a bricklayer during the building works, and also worked on the brick wall separating Lincoln's Inn from Chancery Lane.......... The gatehouse is a large tower, four stories high, featuring diagonal rows of darker bricks, along with a set of oak gates that date from fifteen sixty-four. And those rooms above the gateway arch? These rooms are thought to be those occupied by Oliver Cromwell when he was a young law student here in sixteen seventeen. Though historians remain divided on this point. Early biographers claim that Cromwell attended Lincoln's Inn, but the Inn's archives retain no record of him. A tantalizing mystery.......... Seventeen former Prime Ministers have been members of Lincoln's Inn, including Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher. And in nineteen twenty, the Inn added its first female member... Marjorie Powell. Five hundred years of history, and this gatehouse has witnessed Every single one of them pass through its doors.
Unlocked for everyone by someone who walked here