Editing Inner Temple (section)

===Hall===
The original Knights' Templar Hall was replaced in the fourteenth or fifteenth century.  It was extensively repaired in 1606 and 1629, but was still in poor condition in 1816. Despite this, little was done at that time but replacing the timbers which had gone rotten and patching the crumbling walls with brick.<ref>Bellot (1902) p.40</ref> As a result of the poor condition and the increasing numbers of barristers, it was demolished in 1868.<ref>Bellot (1902) p.41</ref>

Its replacement was a larger hall in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic style]], designed by [[Sydney Smirke]], which was opened on 14 May 1870 by [[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]]. The new Hall was 94 feet long, 41 feet wide and 40 feet high, with glass windows featuring the coats of arms of noted Treasurers from 1506 onwards running around the room.<ref>Bellot (1902) p.45</ref> There were two doors, one to the south and one to the north, which are said by [[William Dugdale]] to be the remnants of a "great carved screen" erected in 1574.<ref>Bellot (1902) p.46</ref>

[[File:Cmglee Fleet Street Inner Temple entrance.jpg|thumb|The entrance to the Inner Temple from [[Fleet Street]] in August 2012]]

The Hall was destroyed during the [[Second World War]], and the foundation stone for the new hall was laid by [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth]] in 1952.<ref name="build">{{cite web|url=http://www.innertemple.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=13|title=The Buildings|publisher=Inner Temple|access-date=4 November 2009}}</ref> The building was designed by [[Hubert Worthington]] and opened in 1955 as part of a complex involving the Hall, Library and Benchers' Chambers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.innertemplelibrary.org.uk/temple-history/inner-temple-history-the-buildings-hall-treasury.htm|title=Inner Temple History – The Buildings – Hall, Treasury, Benchers' Rooms and Library|publisher=Inner Temple|access-date=4 November 2009}}</ref>