Step into History at the London Central Court Offices

Nestled in a quiet street just off Chancery Lane sits a quietly elegant building with a history that might surprise many of the businessmen passing through its doors today. The Grade II building of London’s Central Court, seconds from the Chancery Lane underground station, is more than its Victorian looks, having lived through two world wars, and is a hidden gem in the eclectic history of London.

London Central Court – Once a Patent Office

Within the Jacobean style facade sits the original home of the Patent Office created as a result of the Patent Law Amendment Act in 1852, which required “true copies of all specifications to be open to the inspection of the public.” As well as becoming the first home to patent applications, the patent museum and the patent library, Central Court more curiously opened its doors to the Secretaries of Bankrupts and Lunatics at the time.

A rapid increase in patent applications lead the overwhelmed Central Court commissioning architect Sir John Taylor to develop what ‘Engineering’ 1897 declared to be “the finest library of science and arts in the world”.

London Central Court in World War II

Throughout the Second World War, with all staff hands on deck, London Central Court took a blow from a V1 flying bomb – a doodlebug (a far cry from the perils London serviced offices face today!) Although the Patent Office was repaired to its former architectural glory it was not until bombs were no longer falling that the patent for the fuse bombs that were dropped on the UK during the war was unearthed in the library.

London Central Court Today

After relocation, the library provided a temporary home for the London School of Economics’ library – and this academic feel is still very much alive. It’s easy to look up at the galleried reading room, solid wood and wrought iron bookcases, and original grand sweeping staircase to imagine the historical going-ons of the last 150 years.

No longer a patent office, 25 Southampton Buildings sits amongst London’s vibrant and modern mid-town and has been developed by Executive Office Group’s Palladia brand into state-of-the-art London serviced offices. The building retains an elegant feel, awash with fine historical features as it pays host to all manner of London businesses within its Victorian walls.

Perhaps the building’s days of seeing patents hatched from within its doors are not yet over…