Many visitors to London confine their sightseeing to the main tourist attractions. Whereas these are wonderful places to explore it is a pity that this approach misses out so many of the great hidden away attractions that once discovered are seldom forgotten.
Take the Inns of Court for example.
There are four of them in total - Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Lincoln’s Inn and Gray’s Inn.
The Inns of Court are where English Barristers (Lawyers who are distinguished by their horse hair wigs and black gowns) have their chambers (offices) and where they are trained as well.
If you wanted to see this part of London then walks make for a great way to do it as coaches simply cannot get in to these old places.
If time is limited then I would suggest enjoying a quick walk through Inner and Middle Temple. Here you will find the Temple Church, which was build by the Knights Templar in 1185. This is a round church typical of the Templars design. In recent years it featured in the book and the subsequent film of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.
It is typical of the sort of hidden away place that our London walks introduce you to and is located in a part of London of which Charles Dickens wrote “you can read on its gates “who enters here leaves noise behind.” That description still holds true today with the added bonus that, by night, the entire area is lit by the dull glow of gas lamps.
Not far from The Temple Church is Middle Temple Dining Hall, which dates back to the late 1500’s. Although not often open to the public, it is possible to gain admittance and wonder at a building that can have changed little since the likes of Queen Elizabeth 1st came to dine here (indeed, she is reputed to have sealed the death warrant of Mary, Queen of Scots here).
That is the great thing about London walks. You can really get the feel of these old places by walking in to their timeless courtyards and absorbing their atmosphere. Buses and coaches simply can’t get in to these places, but,if you take the trouble to so you will find for yourself that there really is much more to London than meets the eye.
