[10] The Thames being frozen over, beer from the Temple cellars was used to fight the fire, which was eventually only contained by blowing up some buildings with gunpowder.

2. c. 3) The first woman to be admitted to any Inn was Helena Florence Normanton, who joined Middle Temple as a student member on 24 December 1919.

[12] Olive Clapham, who joined Middle Temple on 17 January 1920, became the first woman to pass the bar finals examinations in May 1921.

One of the Middle Temple's main functions now is to provide education and support to new members of the profession.

This is done through advocacy training, the provision of scholarships (over £1 million in 2011), subsidised accommodation both in the Temple and in Clapham,[15] and by providing events where junior members may meet senior colleagues for help and advice.In 2008 the 400th anniversary of the charter of James I was celebrated by Elizabeth II issuing new letters patent confirming the original grant.

[18] Queen Elizabeth I visited the hall in 1578, unannounced, to inspect the new building and listen to a debate between barristers.

[19] One of the tables at the end of the hall is traditionally said to have been made from the timbers of the Golden Hinde, the ship used by Sir Francis Drake to circumnavigate the world.

[20] Above the table is a massive painting of King Charles I thought to be a copy by Peter Lely of the original by Anthony van Dyck,[21] and also portraits of Charles II, James II, William III, Elizabeth I, Queen Anne and George I.

[22] On the walls are panels bearing the coats of arms of Readers (senior members[note 1]) dating back to 1597.

[23] The first recorded performance of Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night occurred in the hall on 2 February 1602.

Middle Temple Hall is also a popular venue for banqueting, weddings, receptions and parties.

In recent years, it has become a much-used film location, as has Middle Temple generally, because of its cobbled streets, historic buildings and gas lighting.

Middle Temple Library possesses Emery Molyneux's terrestrial and celestial globes, which are of particular historical cartographical value.

The present gatehouse, on Fleet Street on the northern boundary of the Inn, was built in 1684 by Sir Christopher Wren.

Sir William Blackstone worked here before becoming the first professor to lecture in law at Oxford University.

The poet and playwright Oliver Goldsmith also lived here from 1765 (having earlier resided in Garden Court), and is buried in the Temple Church.

The current buildings of Garden Court, which lie along the western edge of the Temple, were constructed in 1883.

South of the hall, and east of the gardens, are Plowden Buildings, built in 1831, which contain the Treasurer's office.

Inner Temple needed the money because it found itself short of funds due to the extensive property destruction.

Parliament approves the Inn's budget and authorises Call of qualified student members to the Bar.

The first of these was the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, who was made a Royal Bencher when he opened the newly constructed library in 1861.

Quadrant House (7–15 Fleet Street) was acquired by the Middle Temple in 1999, and after five years of conversion is now a barristers' chambers.

The badge of the Middle Temple consists of the Lamb of God with a flag bearing the Saint George's Cross.