s well as by
open destroyers on the other. It was built while Cardinal Wolsey was
Chancellor, and was still new when Sir Thomas More sat in the hall as
his successor. The windows have been altered, and the groining of the
archway has been changed for a flat roof. It is said that the bricks of
which the gate is built were made in the Coney Garth, which much later
remained an open field, but is now New Square. A pillar, said to have
been designed by Inigo Jones, stood in New Square, or, as it was called
from a lessee at the beginning of the eighteenth century, Searle's
Court. This ground and the site of the Law Courts formed part of
Fickett's Field, the tilting-place of the Templars. Over the arch of the
gate are carved three shields of arms. In the centre are the
fleurs-de-lis and lions of Henry VIII., crowned within the garter. On
the north side are the arms of Sir Thomas Lovell, who was a bencher of
the Inn, and who rebuilt the gate in 1518. At the other side is the
shield of Lacy. It was Henry Lacy, third Earl of Lincoln, who died in
1311, by whom the lawyers are said to have been first established here.
It is certain that soon after his death the house and gardens, which
before his time had belonged in part to the Blackfriars, and which he
had obtained on their removal to the corner of the City since called
after them, were in the occupation of a society of students of the law.
An adjoining house and grounds belonged to the Bishops of Chichester:
Bishop's Court and Chichester's Rents are still local names. Richard
Sampson, Bishop in 1537, made over the estate to Suliard, a bencher of
the Inn, and his son in 1580 granted it to the lawyers. The gate is at
76, Chancery Lane, formerly New Street, and later Chancellor's Lane. In
Old Square, the first court we enter, are situated the ancient hall and
the chapel, the south side being occupied by chambers, some of them
ancient. The turret in the corner, and one at the south-western corner,
behind the hall, are very like those at St. James's Palace, and probably
date very soon after the gate. Here at No. 13 Thurloe, Oliver Cromwell's
Secretary of State, concealed a large collection of letters, which were
discovered long after and have been published. The hall is low, and
cannot be praised for any external architectural features of interest.
The brickwork, which is older by twelve years than that of the gate, is
concealed under a coat of stucco. There are three Gothic windows on