The Geezers visit Middle Temple Hall and Temple Church
The Geezers day out in three parts:
- Middle Temple Hall on a sunny day out with a three course meal.
- A visit to Temple Church.
- And a pint in an excellent pub.
I did tell the Geezers that we were going to see some people in the legal profession and that explains why we are all suited and booted.
Olu Sanusi, Front of House Officer, Middle Temple (who we discovered comes from Canning Town) gave the Geezers a great run through about the history of Middle Temple Hall. The Hall was built during the 1560s, completed in the 1570s. Queen Elizabeth 1st visited in 1878. And to top it all for Shakespeare fans, the first recorded performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ was held there in 1602, most likely with Shakespeare present. So we were treading some illustrious footsteps.
And more illustrious footsteps were those of the stonemasons who built it. The Geezers were fascinated by the grotesques in the Temple Church. There are two theories about them. One is that, as they are relatively low down on the church walls, they might be images of what hell would be like to remind visitors not to go astray. But the second explanation, we prefer, is that the stonemasons, having done all the heavy lifting work, were allowed to do their own carving and several are taking the mick of people they knew.
It came as no surprise that Carolyn, with her obsession about gasworks, was fascinated by the gas lamps which are still used to illuminate the passages in the Temple.
The Temple Church, a royal peculiarity in the Church of England, is a church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their English headquarters in the Temple precinct. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem.
And after a lovely stroll around the many lanes, alleys and archways we finished off with a beer in The Edgar Wallace pub.
