The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn
A historic private estate in central London combining Tudor halls, Victorian banqueting spaces, modern conference facilities, and landscaped gardens within the legal quarter.
About The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn is the largest and oldest of the four Inns of Court, dating back to 1422, and operates as a large-scale event venue across an eleven-acre gated estate near Holborn and Chancery Lane. The venue offers 19 event spaces in total, blending six centuries of architecture with modern conference infrastructure, allowing events to move between medieval halls, Victorian dining rooms, contemporary meeting suites, and outdoor terraces without leaving the estate.
The venue is particularly strong for conferences, gala dinners, legal-sector events, weddings, summer receptions, and high-end corporate entertaining requiring both heritage and operational capability.
Why bookers choose The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn
A private eleven-acre estate in central London
The venue offers a rare sense of separation from the surrounding city, with gated gardens, lawns, courtyards, and historic buildings hidden behind Holborn's main streets.
Historic and modern event infrastructure on one site
Guests can move between a Tudor hall dating from 1490 and a modern hybrid-ready conference centre opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2018 without leaving the estate.
Strong conference and gala capability
The combination of the Great Hall, Lecture Theatre, Meeting Rooms, and outdoor terraces supports both large-scale formal events and operationally complex multi-stream conferences.
Award-winning in-house catering
Lincoln's Inn retains its own in-house catering team rather than outsourcing, and was named Best In-House Caterer at the London Venue & Catering Awards. The catering approach is sustainability-led with seasonal sourcing.
Flexible wedding licensing across multiple spaces
Seven licensed ceremony spaces allow weddings to scale from intimate gatherings to large formal celebrations across different architectural styles.
Spaces
Great Hall
Victorian banqueting hall for large-scale formal events
The Great Hall is the estate's largest and most prestigious event space, opened by Queen Victoria in 1845. The room combines stained glass, a striking fresco by G.F. Watts, oak ceilings, and a Minstrels' Gallery with large-scale operational capability for conferences, gala dinners, and receptions. By day the Great Hall operates as a dining hall for barrister members of the Inn. The adjacent East Terrace is included with hire and regularly used for arrival drinks and summer entertaining.
Built-in PA system, 3-phase power, natural daylight, manned cloakroom, Minstrels' Gallery, adjacent Bench Rooms, east-facing terrace.
Old Hall
Tudor hall dating from 1490 with exclusive-use crypt
The Old Hall is one of the finest surviving Tudor halls in London and retains original roof timbers, stained glass windows featuring armorial bearings, a wooden screen designed by Inigo Jones, and Hogarth's painting of "Paul Before Felix". The vaulted crypt beneath the hall is included with every booking, as the building is hired exclusively. The space is suited to events needing heritage character at a more intimate scale than the Great Hall.
Built-in PA system, 3-phase power, natural daylight, manned cloakroom, crypt included (suitable for registration, breakout and receptions), Matterport virtual tour available.
Lecture Theatre
Modern hybrid-ready conference theatre within the Ashworth Centre
Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2018, the Ashworth Centre is named after Mercy Ashworth, one of the first women called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1923. The Lecture Theatre provides the venue's strongest dedicated conference and presentation environment. Retractable tiered seating allows the double-height space to switch between conference format and open reception use.
Integrated AV system, retractable tiered seating, natural daylight, 3-phase power, manned cloakroom, hybrid-capable infrastructure, Matterport virtual tour available.
Meeting Rooms
Suite of ten flexible breakout rooms beneath the Great Hall
The Ashworth Centre comprises ten meeting rooms arranged across two floors beneath the Great Hall. They can operate independently or combine via partition walls into larger training and conference spaces. Natural daylight enters through generous skylights, and the spaces are designed for flexibility across workshops, syndicate sessions, and board meetings. The Meeting Rooms can also be hired in conjunction with the Lecture Theatre.
Built-in AV, partition wall flexibility (multi-room format), natural daylight via skylights, manned cloakroom, Matterport virtual tour available.
Old Court Room
Victorian private dining and meeting room with antiquarian library collection
Originally used for legal proceedings, the Old Court Room now houses the Inn's antiquarian books and serves as an intimate dining and meeting space overlooking the estate.
Natural daylight, manned cloakroom, Matterport virtual tour available.
The MCR
Contemporary private dining and reception space with terrace access
The Members' Common Room (MCR) was created by building a mezzanine floor within the original Victorian kitchens of the Great Hall. The vaulted ceilings have been restored, combining preserved Victorian architecture with a more relaxed hospitality atmosphere than the formal halls. A private south-facing terrace overlooks New Square gardens.
Private terrace, bar (confirm with venue), natural daylight, manned cloakroom, Matterport virtual tour available.
East Terrace
Large outdoor reception terrace beside the Great Hall
The East Terrace sits between the Great Hall and the estate gardens and is used heavily for summer entertaining and arrival receptions.
North Lawn
Landscaped lawn with seasonal stretch tent installation
The North Lawn hosts summer receptions and garden parties beneath a seasonal stretch tent installed annually.
All spaces at a glance
| Space | theatre | dining | dinner | boardroom | reception | standing | dinner-dance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Hall | 300 | – | 280 | – | – | 450 | 220 |
| Old Hall | 130 | – | 120 | 40 | – | 200 | 100 |
| Lecture Theatre | 158 | – | – | – | – | 130 | – |
| Meeting Rooms | 120 | – | – | 60 | 158 | – | – |
| Old Court Room | 47 | 44 | – | 28 | – | 70 | – |
| The MCR | – | 50 | – | – | – | 90 | – |
| East Terrace | – | – | – | – | – | 450 | – |
| North Lawn | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Guest numbers for the layout shown. A dash means that layout isn't offered in that space.
Facilities & amenities
Catering
Approach
All catering is delivered exclusively by Lincoln's Inn's award-winning in-house catering team, named Best In-House Caterer at the London Venue & Catering Awards. Styles include fine dining, canapés and bowl food, corporate lunches, reception catering, wedding catering, meeting refreshments and seasonal menus.
External caterers
External caterers are not permitted.
Bars
Full bar and reception service is available across event spaces. Wine curation arrangements should be confirmed with the venue.
Dietary
The venue accommodates dietary requirements through its in-house team. Sustainability-led sourcing and ingredient traceability are central to the catering approach.
Is it right for your event?
Great for
- Gala dinners and awards ceremonies
- Legal-sector events
- Conferences and AGMs
- Hybrid events
- Weddings
- Summer receptions
- Corporate entertaining
- Historic London events
- Board meetings and executive dining
Less suited to
- Budget-led venue hire
- Casual low-production meetings
- Events needing unrestricted vehicle access throughout the estate
- Festivals or high-noise late-night events
- Clients wanting external catering flexibility
- Large expos requiring extensive ground-floor exhibition halls
Accessibility
Historic listed buildings may include operational limitations around step-free access and adapted facilities. Full accessibility guidance should be requested before booking for delegates with specific requirements.
Weddings
Ceremonies
Lincoln's Inn is licensed for civil ceremonies across seven different spaces, allowing weddings to scale from intimate private ceremonies through to large formal receptions. The spaces licensed for civil ceremonies, with their ceremony capacities, are: Great Hall 380, Ashworth Centre 160, Old Hall 150, Old Hall Crypt 67, The MCR 60, Bench Rooms 50, and Old Court Room 50. The Great Hall hosts ceremonies for up to 380 guests, while smaller spaces such as the MCR and Old Court Room suit more intimate formats.
Scale
The Great Hall hosts ceremonies for up to 380 guests, while smaller spaces such as the MCR and Old Court Room suit more intimate formats.
Notes
Outdoor arrival drinks and photography are regularly hosted on the East Terrace and estate lawns. All wedding catering is provided in-house.
Location & getting there
Lincoln's Inn sits in central London near Holborn, Chancery Lane, and Lincoln's Inn Fields. The main estate entrance is off Lincoln's Inn Fields at the junction with Newman's Row and Serle Street (WC2A 3QA), staffed 24/7. Pedestrian entrances on Chancery Lane and Carey Street are open to the public between 08:00 and 19:00, Monday to Friday.
Sustainability
Lincoln's Inn operates a detailed sustainability programme across catering, energy, waste, and estate management. Initiatives include zero waste to landfill, a ground-source heat pump beneath the Ashworth Centre (confirm with venue), a Kitchen Garden supplying produce, British-sourced meat and poultry, food waste composting, LED lighting and occupancy sensing, and biodiversity planting and wildflower meadow areas.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The Lecture Theatre and Meeting Rooms are designed specifically for conferences, hybrid events, and training days, while the Great Hall supports larger keynote sessions and dinners.
Yes. The Great Hall accommodates up to 280 guests for dinner and 450 standing for receptions.
Yes. The estate includes the East Terrace and North Lawn, both used for summer receptions, networking events, and garden parties.
Yes. Seven spaces across the estate are licensed for civil ceremonies, ranging from intimate rooms to large formal halls.
Yes. The Ashworth Centre includes integrated AV and hybrid-ready facilities, particularly within the Lecture Theatre and Meeting Rooms.
Very central. Holborn station is 0.2km away, with Chancery Lane at 0.4km.