The Inns of Court, located in the district of Holborn, are the very heart of the British legal system. Even today every barrister in Britain and Wales must work from, and eat a number of meals at, one of the four Inns of Court before they can be called to the bar.

Originally though, the Inns of Court weren’t intended to be a legal institution. They were founded as a sort of University in order to provide a gentlemen’s education for sons of the aristocracy. They were called Inns because the students lodged and ate, as well as studied, at the inns.

A few students studied the law, and over the years the Inns of court became specialised institutions where English barristers were trained. Today there are four surviving Inns of Court (see below), which are collectively known as Temple.

Today the area is almost totally built up, with residential housing pretty much everywhere with just the Golders Hill Park to break up the expanse of houses.

The main tourist attraction in the district is the Anna Pavlova Memorial Museum located in the house where the famous ballet dancer once lived.