Essex House

Essex House was a house in London, built around 1575 for Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and originally called Leicester House. The property occupied the site where the Outer Temple, part of the London headquarters of the Knights Templar, had previously stood , and was immediately adjacent to the Middle Temple, then one of the four principal Inns of Court. The house fronted The Strand and was adjacent to the Middle Temple of the London headquarters of the Knights Templar. It was re-named Essex House after being inherited by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex in 1588. The house was substantial. In 1590, it was recorded as having 42 bedrooms, plus a picture gallery, kitchens, outhouses, a banqueting suite and a chapel. Essex’s mother,...