The early history of the Middle Temple is much the same as that of the Inner Temple. It occupies the western (or up-river) half of the Temple grounds. Entrance gates have historically included one or more gates to the north along Fleet Street, one to the west, and a water-gate to the Thames, now the north side of the Embankment.
Physically the Middle Temple comprises law chambers, which traditionally doubled as residential facilities, an exceptionally large and magnificent hall (see p xlii), a chapel, a library, gardens, and a treasury. Architecturally the Middle Temple retains an old-world atmosphere, to some extent a consequence of careful reconstruction following World War II.
The governing body of the Middle Temple is called the parliament; its orders, called minutes of parliament, are preserved in volumes called Parliament Books. Middle Temple Parliament Books survive from 1500, except that the second volume, for 1524–51, is lost (whence number ‘2’ is omitted from the sequence of shelfmarks).
Financial documents surviving from our period include treasurers’ Receipt Books from a series which is complete only from 1637–8 to 1641–6, while a single book survives from earlier years, for 1614–15. The years just prior to 1642 are also represented by treasurers’ Disbursement Books for 1640–1 and 1641–2. A unique series of unbound scraps mostly associated with Inns of Court masques survives abundantly from 1612–13 and 1633–4 (see pp lvii–lxii), and occasionally for other years.
The standard essential publications are Charles Henry Hopwood (ed), Middle Temple Records, 3 vols and index (London, 1904–5); and A Calendar of the Middle Temple Records (London, 1903).