Middle Temple Hall

Middle Temple Hall is a magnificent Elizabethan hall at the heart of one of the Inns of Court, completed in 1573 and still used by barristers for dining and ceremonies. Its double hammerbeam roof is among the finest in the country, and the ornate carved screen at one end is said to have been made from the timbers of a captured Spanish ship. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is recorded as performed here in 1602, possibly its first staging. Coats of arms and long tables preserve an atmosphere of legal tradition.