Skip to content

Purchase your copy of An Illustrated History of Gray’s Inn.

The book is authored by our Members, David Barnard and Timothy Shuttleworth, with a foreword by the Right Honourable Baroness Hale, former President of the Supreme Court and Treasurer of Gray’s Inn in 2017.

An Illustrated History of Gray’s Inn tells the story of the Inn over seven centuries from 1294 when Sir Reginald de Grey purchased the lease of the old Manor of Purpoole.

Discover the ‘Golden Age’ of the Inn when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne, the part Members of the Inn played in the contest between Charles I and Parliament (including their roles at his trial), the Restoration, the eighteenth century (when the Inn ceased to teach law students and Call to the Bar became a formality), the sorry state of the Inn when Charles Dickens was working as an office boy, the near demise of  the Inn later in the nineteenth century and how its fortunes were revived and transformed (by such members as Sir John Holker and F E Smith) and how the Inn became (as it remains today) a society of lawyers from all over the Commonwealth.

Including chapters on the twentieth century, covering the destruction of much of the Inn in the Blitz and its rebuilding (first priority was given to the resumption of life in Hall), the book brings us up to ‘Recent Times’ with changes over the last 50 years and the parts played by the men and women who have created the Inn as it is today.

The book is published in hard cover with dust jacket and features numerous illustrations, plans and maps.

Buy now

Available to buy from:

  • the Inn – complete the form below or visit Treasury Reception to purchase in person
  • Wildy and Sons Ltd

Cost:

  • £10 for all

Postage incurs an additional charge. Alternatively you may collect in person free of charge.

  • Fields marked * are compulsory. Your information will be used in accordance with the Inn's Data Privacy Notice

  • Please note:

    • Books will not be dispatched until the Inn has received payment 
    • The Inn will confirm the postage amount which must be included with your payment
    • Books will be dispatched within 5 working days of receipt of payment

    Payment methods

    • Cheques should be made payable to 'Gray's Inn'. Please post your cheque to: The Treasury Office, The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, 8 South Square, London, WC1R 5ET
    • Card
  • Submit request

    Please press the button below to submit your request.

Find out more

Contact

Get in touch with the Inn

Find us

Getting here and our opening hours

News

Find out about the Inn's news and announcements

Let us know your feedback

"*" indicates required fields

WeeklyMonthlyYearlyThis is my first visit
YesNoJust browsing
StudentPupilBarristerBencherOther
Not at all likelyUnlikelyNeutralLikelyVery likely