The Ashworth Centre - Lincoln's Inn

Illustrated floorplan of Lincoln's Inn, depicted Great Hall, meeting rooms, lecture theatre, Bench Rooms and Library.

The Ashworth Centre was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 2018 and brings the buildings of the Inn right up to date. Designed to blend harmoniously into the historic estate, the Centre is buried next to the Great Hall. Its clever design allows light to flood in to the 10 lecture rooms and one large lecture theatre, giving a modern and efficient location for education activities and conferences.

The Ashworth Centre is named after Mercy Ashworth, one of the first women called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn on 26 January 1923. Like many women of the time, struggling to be accepted in the professional world, Mercy had to wait a long time before being accepted to the Bar. She was 54 when she was called, having got her first degree at Aberystwyth, then read Moral Sciences at Girton College, Cambridge, and subsequently having taught at Homerton College, Cambridge.

Mercy was deeply involved in efforts to improve educational opportunities for women and children. She worked as a school’s inspector in India from 1905 to the outbreak of WW1. When she returned, she became an active member of the Women’s University Settlement. This organisation encouraged university-educated women to settle in deprived areas and help women and children to access education through evening classes, clubs and Saturday schools.