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Tourist
Information on Holborn
Holborn
takes its name from the Holebourne, a tributary of the now
underground River Fleet. The stream was a major goods
route from the Thames into the City and the area was referred
to as 'Holeburnstreete' for the first time in 1249.
Holborn is the traditional home
of the legal profession. The Inns of Court, ancient
legal centres, were located here to symbolising the law as
a mediator in the battle for power between the City and Westminster.
 The
atmosphere of Holborn is still derived from the four surviving
Inns: Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Middle Temple and Inner Temple.
The courtyards and passageways of these Inns are a quite oasis
from the busy capital. The magnificent neo-Gothic Royal
Courts of Justice, civil courts, are found in the Strand,
and Chancery Lane, is home to the Law Society.
Many buildings here
survive from before the Great Fire of 1666, including the
magnificent timber-framed façade of Staple Inn.
Temple Bar, where
the Strand meets Fleet Street, marks the official boundary
between Westminster and the City. The monument, set
in the centre of the road, is a griffin, the symbol of the
City. The Queen cannot pass this point without the permission
of the Lord Mayor of London.
In the Strand, Somerset
House stands on the site of the Tudor palace of the Dukes
of Somerset. Once offices of the Inland Revenue, Somerset
House now contains the Courtauld Gallery, the Gilbert Collection
and the Hermitage Rooms.
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