Five centuries after his death in 1524, we are proud to commemorate the life of Sir Richard Sutton, co-founder of Brasenose College, Reader of this Inn and Treasurer 1519–20.
Sutton was admitted to the Inn in 1490. In 1505, he is mentioned as Reader “of the Inner Tempull”; between 1508–22 he is referred to as a Governor (Bencher) of the Inn. From 1497, he was a judge in the Court of Requests and in 1498, he was appointed Legal Assessor to the Privy Council. He was knighted at some point between 1519–23.
As Assessor to the Privy Council, he made the acquaintance of William Smith, the Bishop of Lincoln, who was also a Councillor. Together they decided to form a college at Oxford for which Sutton took on the task of funding and providing the property and site for, whilst Smith devised its constitution. In 1508, Sutton acquired the lease of Brasenose Hall in School Street, Oxford. A charter of foundation was acquired from Henry VIII in 1512.
The college reflected Sir Richard’s piety and his endowment stipulated that there should be daily church services performed by the Fellows and the Principal, with a stipendiary of priests and choristers. He was appointed Steward of Syon Abbey where he resided for the remainder of his life. His will provided for a priest to teach girls intending on entering the nunnery. He funded the publication of the Orcherd of Syon, a devotional text based on the revelations of Catherine of Siena, which he claimed to have discovered.
His will also stipulated that his burial should take place in Temple Church with a tomb inscribed as following: ‘Sub tuam protectionem confidimus’. It is considered likely that he was actually buried in Syon Abbey as no record exists of his burial in Temple Church.
Here he is depicted wearing a literal coat of arms.
This year, we commemorate the quatercentenary of King James I who died on 27 March 1625. It is thanks to his generous gift in 1608 that The Inner Temple possesses its unique independence and status.
In 1608, he conveyed the Temple in fee simple to the named Benchers of the two Societies ‘the Inns and capital messuages known as the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple or the New Temple’ by Letters Patent. This document serves as the basis for the Inn’s constitution and includes conditions such as the requirement to maintain and repair the Temple Church and the guarantee that the Inns “serve for all time to come for the accommodation and education of the students and practitioners of the laws of the realm”.
Water Bottles
Our beautiful 500ml (17oz) Inner Temple water bottle is made from 70% recycled materials and high grade steel by Mr Bamboo Cup. It keeps your beverage cold for 24 hours or hot for 12 hours, and is fully recyclable at the end of its ten year life. A tree is planted for each bottle that is manufactured. It's a perfect gift or accessory for every occasion.
By 1608, the Inns had already existed for 250 years, leasing the Temple site from the Knights Hospitaller who became the successors of the Knights Templar. Following the Dissolution, their lands were seized by the Crown from whom the Inns then leased the site and buildings.
The Letters Patent granted the Benchers and their successors the freehold of the land and ownership of Temple Church which retains the status of a Royal Peculiar. The appointment of the Master of the Church is decided by the monarch and the Inn remains its own local authority thanks to the generous gift of James I.
As a mark of their gratitude, the Inns presented the King with a large gold cup costing £666 13s 4d (approximately £90,000 in today’s value) shared equally by the Middle and Inner Temple.
In 2008, the Patent of 1608 was confirmed by Letters Patent of Queen Elizabeth II, with an English translation of the original Latin annexed. All four Inns of Court remain, to this day, unincorporated voluntary associations with the constitutions founded on their ancient customs.
“It was in a room in Paper Buildings – a row of goodly tenements, shaded in front by ancient trees, and looking, at the back, upon the Temple Gardens – that this, our idler [Sir John Chester] lounged” (Chester lives here in some style, he has a golden toothpick), and is seen sitting in “the broad old-fashioned window-seat of a roomy chamber” watching the people in the Temple Gardens and passers-by strolling along the Thames.
— Barnaby Rudge, Charles Dickens
This painting from the Paul Mellon Centre by an unknown artist shows Paper Buildings and The Inner Temple in 1725. The building was first constructed in 1609 and named Heyward’s Building but became known as Paper Buildings because then it was built from timber, lath and plaster, a construction method known as ‘paperwork’. A fire in 1838 destroyed much of the building, and 1–3 were rebuilt by Robert Smirke as numbers 1–3 Paper Buildings and 4–5 were built in 1847–49 by his brother Sydney Smirke in the Tudor Gothic Style.
As can be seen from this painting, the Garden was much smaller. Land was reclaimed from the river during the building of Blackfriars Bridge in 1769 and the Victoria Embankment in 1870. In 1725, the river would have reached the edge of where 5 Paper Buildings now stands.
Paper Buildings briefly hosted MI5 from 21 February 1911.
The Library was restored in 1820. In 1825, the question of its management and upkeep was considered in some detail by Bench Table. A formal system of arrangement and organisation was created that is recognisable to us now.
A Master of the Library was elected annually for the first time. A Librarian was employed, and comfortable working conditions were created both for the Librarian and Library users with appropriate equipment such as pens, ink, paper, and chairs. A cleaner was employed to clean the Library daily and regularly dust all the books twice a year. Matting was fitted to protect the floor from ink stains and a stove was installed to provide warmth for the Librarian, who had previously been unable to remain in the northern section of the Library during the winter.
The duties of the first Librarian would be familiar to many a modern library user today. These included classifying and arranging the books, keeping them safe, creating and providing a catalogue of the library, safeguarding valuable books by limiting access to the Benchers, ensuring books be returned to their proper place, for borrowed books to be returned within two weeks, unless a good reason could be provided, and ensuring the Master of the Library was made aware of how the Library could be improved or of anything that might be detrimental. The Librarian was also to ensure the Library was well stocked with ink and paper. Only members of the Inn were allowed to use the Library unless they had written permission from a Bencher. The Sub-Treasurer was to make sure the Librarian had an up-to-date list of members.
On 19 June 1925, one of the most famous barristers of our Inn, Sir Edward Marshall Hall, purchased and donated the beautiful Dutch silver Layette basket by silversmith Hans Conrad Brechtel that can be seen in the cabinet in Hall.
The custom of giving silver objects to celebrate key life cycle moments started in Holland in the 16th century where it was a tradition to offer a silver gift for births, marriages, and deaths. Layette baskets were usually made from willow rod but for a short period they were created from silver for the nobility. This basket celebrates the marriage of William II of Orange to Mary Stuart, the daughter of Charles I, merging the lion of Holland and the unicorn of England. It is surrounded by vines and peacocks to symbolise fertility and fidelity with monkeys and weasels symbolising chastity and virginity.
William and Mary were married in May 1641 in Mary’s bedchamber at St James’s palace when Mary was nine years old and William 15. It is thought that the basket was given to Mary by her godmother Elizabeth ‘The Winter Queen’.
There are only seven of these baskets in existence.
Celia Pilkington
Archivist
