Historical origins

1.1 Today the Admiralty Court is simply one of the courts in the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of England and Wales.1 But for more than 500 years (circa 1360–1860) it was an independent court it its own right. From 1664 the Admiralty Court and its Registry was located at Doctors’ Commons (near St. Paul’s Cathedral). Doctors’ Commons also accommodated the chambers, library and dining hall for its own specially trained practitioners, in much the same way as the Inns of Court continue to do so for barristers today.2 The emergence of the Admiralty Court has been traced to the period between the years 1340 and 1357.3