Backgroung

Saturday 2 October 2010

Hidden Treasure

During my lunchbreak from work the other day, I walked down Chancery Lane.
There are some lovely old buildings down there and one had large wooden gates, which were closed, next to which was a small opening. I wandered through to see what was in there and found this lovely area called Old Square.



Over to the right I noticed a building built on pillars forming a vaulted ceiling.








At one end I noticed staircases ascending which said Lincoln's Inn Chapel, so I went up.



And found this beautiful interior with a wood panelled ceiling.



It was so beautiful and peaceful that I sat for a while.


"When I got back to the office I googled it and found the following on Wikipedia:
The first mention of a Chapel in Lincoln's Inn comes from 1428. By the 17th century this had become too small, and discussions started about building a new one in 1608. The current Chapel was built between 1620 and 1623 by Inigo Jones, and was extensively rebuilt in 1797 and again in 1883. Other repairs took place in 1685, after the consultation of Christopher Wren, and again in 1915. The Chapel is built on a series of pillars, and has acted (sometimes simultaneously) as a Crypt, meeting place and place of recreation. For many years only Benchers were allowed to be buried in the Crypt, with the last one being interned on 15 May 1852. Before that, however, it was open to any member of servant of the society; in 1829 a former Preacher was interned, and in 1780 William Turner, described as Hatch-keeper and Washpot to this Honble. Society", was buried. The Chapel features an organ (installed in 1820, and rebuilt in 1969), and a Bell, which was said to date from 1596, although this is not considered likely. Traditionally, the bell would chime a curfew at 9pm, with a stroke for each year of the current Treasurer's age. The bell would also chime between 12:30 and 1:00pm when a Bencher had died. Inside the chapel are six stained glass windows, three on each side, designed by the Van Linge family."

3 comments:

Anita said...

Woweee Linda, what a lovely place to find, so serene. You really are quite an adventurer aren't you. Are you going to scrap it?..xxx

Lynn said...

This looks lovely Linda, a real treasure. X

Lynn said...

This looks lovely Linda, a real treasure. X