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Gray's Inn, London

Grays Inn, founded in 1569, is one of four inns - the others being Lincoln's Inn, and the Inner and Middle Temples - where barristers are trained in Britain. To qualify as a barrister a student must join the inn, pass their exams, and dine at the inn a set number of times.

Shakespeare's early play A Comedy of Errors was first performed at Gray's Inn Hall in 1594. The hall survived until World War Two when it was destroyed by bombing. The hall has been rebuilt exactly as it was, and most of the stained glass is original. A beautiful wood screen also survives from the original hall, allegedly built from the wood of a Spanish ship which was part of the Armada.

Sir Francis Bacon designed the gardens, or Walks, in the 1590s. The Walks became a popular place to see and be seen during the Restoration after 1660. With the return of famously easy going Charles II from exile, Cromwell's austere rule was over, and people came to Gray's Inn to walk about and admire each other's clothes. Samuel Pepys wrote of coming to the Walks to look at beautiful women: "After dinner... I and the young company to walk first to Graye's Inn Walks, where great store of gallants, but above all the ladies that I there saw, or ever did see, Mrs Francis Butler... is the greatest beauty." (23rd June 1661)

Charles Dickens worked as a clerk here, and briefly toyed with the idea of a legal career. Gray's Inn appears in a number of novels, including David Copperfield and The Pickwick Papers.

The Walks are open to the public and make a very good place to rest, away from the noise of central London. Grays Inn Hall is only open by appointment. Apply in writing to the address below.

Directions: Gray's Inn is in High Holborn. The nearest Underground stations are Chancery Lane and Holborn. Click here for an interactive map centred on Gray's Inn.

Contact: The Treasury, South Square, Grays Inn, London WC1