Temple, London
The Temple is an area of the City of London surrounding Temple Church. It is one of the main legal districts in London and a notable centre for English law, since the middle ages to the present day. It consists of the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, which are two of the four Inns of Court and act as local authorities in place of the City of London Corporation as to almost all structures and functions. The Temple was the precinct of the Knights Templar until they were suppressed in 1312, and the area has retained the name from that time. It became a centre of the legal profession soon thereafter. The Royal Courts of Justice and Temple Bar are just to the north and Temple tube station borders to the southwest in the City of Westminster. The associated area is roughly bounded by the River Thames (the Victoria Embankment) to the south, Surrey Street to the west, the Strand and Fleet Street to the north and Carmelite Street and Whitefriars Street to the east. The intervening Essex Street, two streets east of Surrey Street is the traditional western boundary, beyond which are affluent office/hotel and residential blocks, spread