The Temple Church [antikvár]

THE TEMPLE CHURCH'T'he Temple Church, one of London's hidden treasures, miraculously escaped the Great Fire of 1666. It was not so fortunate on 10 May 1941 when it was grievously burnt during the last and worst night of the Blitz. However, much of the fabric survived, and after sympathetic restoration under the direction of the late Walter H. Godfrey, the architect, it is to be seen again in all its former glory.The Temple lies to the West of the City and belongs to two of the four Inns of Court, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple"the two learned and honourable Societies of this House", as the Bidding Prayer styles them. The Temple Church is thus the lawyers' private chapel, though normally open to the public. Furthermore, it is extra-diocesan, has no parish and is not subject to the authority of the Bishop of London. Indeed, it comes directly under the jurisdiction of the Sovereign as Head of the Church of England, and the Crown appoints the Master of the Temple, who corresponds to the chaplain of a college chapel.The Temple takes its name from the crusading Order of Knights Templars, founded in 1118 to protect pilgrims on the road to the Holy City. They became powerful throughout Europe and were given possessions in many lands. Henry I introduced them to England, and they first settled in Holborn near the top of Chancery Lane. In the second half of the 12th century they built their great house of the New Temple on the banks of the Thames. But wealth and pride led to their downfall, and after the dissolution of the Order in 1312 the property was granted to their rivals the Knights Hospitallers who in turn were suppressed at the Reformation. Thus the Temple eventually passed to the Crown, subject to the tenancies of the lawyers who had settled there as tenants of the Hospitallers and formed themselves into two societies. The Benchers of the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple secured the freehold by charter from James I in 1608. One of the conditions of the grant was that they were to maintain the Temple Church and its services for ever, and it has been their pride to do so through four centuries.The Round Church was built on the model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and was consecrated on 10 February 11853