Stone Buildings

[6] They were constructed in accordance with an ultimately unrealised plan to rebuild Lincoln's Inn entirely in stone.

[7] The working drawings were made by a young man called Leach, then a clerk in Taylor's office, who later became Master of the Rolls.

The cornice of the wing is continued through the whole length of the front, which terminates in a balustrade, but the two ranges of windows are entirely plain.

[10] On 23 December 1790, by the violence of the wind at noon, the copper covering of the roof of the new buildings was blown off in one sheet, and hung over the front like a large carpet or mainsail.

[18] Samuel Ireland said that the valuable and extensive library was housed in an elegant suite of apartments, consisting of four rooms, three of which commanded a pleasant view of the gardens.

The excellent order in which they were ranged, and the extreme neatness that prevailed throughout the apartments, reflected great honour on those who had the superintendence of them.

There were two portraits in the principal apartment; that over the chimney-piece, to the left of the entrance, was well painted, and represented Sir Richard Rainsford, lord chief justice in the reign of Charles I.; the other, which hung between the windows, was a portrait of Sir John Franklin, master in ordinary of the court of chancery, who, by the inscription, appears to have died in 1707.

The second chamber contained some very good pictures; among which, that of the Virgin and Child appeared, in point of design, to possess no small degree of merit.

Between the windows was a very singular three-quarter portrait, representing a handsome woman loosely attired, holding in her hand a bleeding heart, pierced through with a dart; in the background were two small figures, representing Mars and Venus; applicable, no doubt, to the subject of the picture, which seemed very ancient, and was extremely dirty; unfortunately the name of the lady was not known.

There was also a three-quarter portrait in the third chamber, of the famous judge Hales, who bequeathed to the honourable society all his valuable manuscripts; and, in the fourth apartment, hung a good picture of the late Lord Mansfield, chief justice of the King's Bench and five old pictures, on the subject of Christ at Emmaus.

[29] There is on the west front of 4 Stone Buildings, facing the garden and just outside the chambers formerly occupied by Pitt, a sundial bearing the inscription "Qua Redit Nescitis Horam", which means "you know not the hour in which he returns".

[33] In July 1918, the Bar Council acquired new offices at 5 Stone Buildings, of a character more suitable to the duties they were called upon to discharge.

The furniture and fittings of the new premises were presented to the Bar Council by their then chairman, Mr P. O. Lawrence KC.

It currently comprises 24 members, of whom five are Queen's Counsel, whose specialisations include private client, estate planning, tax, probate disputes, partnership, property litigation, professional negligence, pensions and other chancery related commercial matters.

On the basement floor, an equal amount of space, but differently divided, was occupied by the writ, appearance, judgment, execution, and rule offices, and by the record room and housekeeper's apartments.

[53] 10 Stone Buildings was the home of the Writ of Record Office until 1882 when the premises were acquired by the Inns of Court Regiment.

They practiced commercial law with specialist groups for all types of contract, company, insolvency, banking & finance and real estate disputes.

They acted as advocates, advisers, arbitrators and mediators for law firms, for in-house legal departments and for licensed and public access clients.

[60][61] The set was dissolved in October 2015 because the barristers felt their practices would be best served by moving to more specialised chambers.