Note 410 — Chapter XVIII · THE GREAT CHARTER

The Knights Templars, having purchased all that part of the banks of the Thames lying between Whitefriars and Essex Street, erected on it a magnificent structure which was known as the New Temple, in distinction from the Old Temple on the south side of Holborn. Meetings of Parliament and of the king's council were frequently held in the New Temple; here also were kept the crown jewels. Ultimately, after the suppression of the Templars by Edward II., the Temple became one of England's most celebrated schools of law.