page_title: Gray's Inn
section_title: Hall
hierarchical_section_title: Gray's Inn / Buildings and gardens / Hall
caption_attribution_description: English: The Hall of Gray's Inn, WC1. Shows the location of 1266679.
context_page_description: The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, a person must belong to one of these inns. Located at the intersection of High Holborn and Gray's Inn Road in Central London, the inn is both a professional body and a provider of office accommodation for many barristers. It is ruled by a governing council called "pension", made up of the masters of the bench, and led by the Treasurer, who is elected to serve a one-year term. The inn is known for its gardens, or walks, which have existed since at least 1597.
  Gray's Inn does not claim a specific foundation date; there is a tradition that none of the Inns of Court claims to be any older than the others. Law clerks and their apprentices have been established on the present site since at least 1370, with records dating from 1381. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the inn grew steadily with great prestige, reaching its pinnacle during the reign of Elizabeth I. The inn was home to many important barristers and politicians, most notably Francis Bacon, and counted Queen Elizabeth herself as a patron.
context_section_description: The Hall was part of the original Manor of Portpoole, although it was significantly rebuilt during the reign of Mary I, and again during the reign of Elizabeth, with the rebuilding being finished on 10 November 1559. The rebuilt Hall measured 70 feet (21 m) in length, 35 feet (11 m) in width and 47 feet (14 m) in height, and remains about the same size today. 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.
  The hall 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. The Hall was lit with the aid of massive windows filled with the Coats of Arms of those members who became Treasurers. The Benchers' table is also said to have been a gift from Elizabeth, and as a result the only public toast in the Inn until the late 19th century was "to the glorious, pious and immortal memory of Queen Elizabeth".
  The walls of the Hall are decorated with paintings of noted patrons or members of the Inn, including Nicholas Bacon and Elizabeth I. 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. The rebuilt hall was designed by Edward Maufe, and was formally opened in 1951 by the Duke of Gloucester.
caption: Gray's Inn Hall, London WC1
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