About
Chambers was founded in 1953 and has been based at 2 King’s Bench Walk in the heart of legal London ever since. In 2013 it opened Chambers at 3 Guildhall Walk in Portsmouth.
The founding members were Norman Skelhorn QC (later DPP), Raymond Stock QC (later HHJ Stock QC), Nat Blaker QC (later HHJ Blaker QC), JH Inskip QC (later HHJ Inskip QC), John Jenkins and John Whitley (later HHJ Whitley).
Other members soon joined and 2KBW flourished and grew as a Western Circuit and London set.
70 years ago the Courts were run in a very different way to the current practice. It was the Assizes and Quarter Sessions who conducted criminal cases. The Assize Judge travelled around the Circuit in grand style and the Judge was followed by the barristers.
This ensured that 2 King’s Bench Walk barristers covered the entire Western Circuit from Cornwall to Bristol, and including Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight. As work grew Chambers expanded and many now concentrate on specific locations throughout the UK.
2 KBW has been well served by their elected Heads of Chambers. The longest serving have been Skelhorn QC, Stock QC and Blaker QC (above), David Owen-Thomas QC, Anthony Donne KC, Timothy Mousley KC (now HHJ Mousley KC), William Mousley KC (now HHJ W. Mousley KC) and Miss Sally M Howes KC.
They, the Members of Chambers and staff built 2 KBW Chambers into one of the leading sets in London and the Western Circuit. This position is still maintained today under the leadership of Matthew Farmer and Russell Pyne.