All Hallows Honey Lane 11/12

Introduction

This property, at the E. end of the parish, was bounded to the W. by 11, to the N. and E. by properties in St. Lawrence Jewry parish, and again to the E. by 104/35. In 1459 it was said to have a frontage to Cheapside of 22 ft. 2 in. (6.76 m.), and to extend 167 ft. 7 in. (51.08 m.) N. from the street. (fn. 1)

On the street frontage the property corresponded to no. 101 and part of no. 102 Cheapside in 1858.

Thirteenth to sixteenth century

12 was probably the property in All Hallows Honey Lane parish which Fulk son of Fulk Pepercorn granted, with other lands, to the New Hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate (fd. 1197), probably in the early 13th century. In the mid-13th century 12, described as a seld, was held of the hospital by Ralph de Moreual, saddler. At that time Robert son of Henry of Oxford quitclaimed to the hospital in £4 rent therefrom. Robert also quitclaimed in a rent of £2. 13s. 4d. from the seld once of Walter le Brown (founder of the hospital), but this probably relates to another property. In 1260, Beatrice, wife of Ralph de Morivall, acknowledged in connection with her husband's grant of another property that he had dowered her with £2 quit-rent from the seld he held in Cheapside of St. Mary Spital. Before 1265, Thomas, prior of the hospital, confirmed a grant made by Ralph de Morivale, citizen, to Geoffrey de Winchester de foro, pepperer (peverer), of the shop beside the door of his (Ralph's) seld, at a yearly rent to the hospital of £2; if sufficient distresses for arrears could not be found in the shop, the hospital might distrain on Ralph's seld. (fn. 2)

This last grant may precede Ralph de la Murevall's acknowledgement in 1264 of a charter by which he granted Michael le Blund, spicer (spec'), the land with seld, perrinum lapideum, cellar(s), and solar(s), which he held of the hospital in Cheapside. Beatrice and her dower are not mentioned in this grant, so it is probable that she was already dead. Michael the spicer, evidently identical with Michael le Blund, had died before 1283, when his widow Lucy and her husband Walter de Rokeslee, citizen, granted the tenement with two shops in this parish, which Michael had assigned to Lucy, to Michael's son Ralph during Lucy's lifetime, in exchange for a rent of £1. 6s. 8d. Ralph son of Michael subsequently granted a rent of £1. 6s. 8d. from his tenement to his brother James le Peverer, whose widow Emma distrained for the rent in 1288. The court agreed with Ralph that the rent had been granted to James for life only, and that Emma had no estate in it after his death. This Emma, known also as Emma de Honilane, occupied another property (3) in the parish some years later. In 1291 Ramsey Abbey had a rent of £1. 5s. from a property, subsequently identifiable as this one, in the parish, as well as a rent of £2 from 104/35. (fn. 3)

John de Douegate, citizen, acquired the seld and by his will, proved 1302, left it to his daughter Joan in tail. The immediate succession to the property is not clear, but by 1346 the tenants or occupants were John Wroth, his wife Juliana, and Thomas son of Bartholomew de Honilane, against whom the prior of St. Bartholomew's brought an assize of nuisance. The prior's tenement, 11, which adjoined this one to the W., was apparently partly vacant at this time, and the occupants of 12 had taken advantage of this by using part of 11 for access and by erecting buildings which overlooked, overhung, and cast rainwater on it. The defendants claimed that half the lane was theirs, and had been devised by John de Douegate to his daughter Joan; the prior denied that they had any interest in the lane save by his goodwill. The prior brought similar actions in 1357 and 1365 against the then tenants, Roger Lachebrok and his wife Margaret, daughter of Thomas son of Joan daughter of John de Douegate, but on each occasion the court was unable to make a judgment because of the absence of evidence. The defendants did not deny the existence of the doors (said to be 2 or 3 in number) opening on to the ground, the windows (said to be 10, then 11, then 20 in number) overlooking it, the jetty overhanging it by 38 ft. by 2 ft. 6 in. (11.58 m. by 760mm.), as alleged in 1346, or by 32 ft. by 2 ft. (9.75 m. by 610 mm.), as alleged in 1357, or that their rainwater ran off on to it for a length of 167 ft. (50.90 m.), as alleged in 1365, but claimed that the land was equally theirs. The proceedings were ended by the death of Margaret in 1366, when the prior was left sine die, but a rent of 6s. 8d. paid by the owners of 12 to those of 11 in the 16th century for the use of a watercourse (gurges) running from the Bull Head into or along Trump Alley may represent a settlement of part of the dispute. (fn. 4)

The succession to the property after the death of Margaret Lachebrok is uncertain, but by the 1380s or 1390s the Wroth family, of which the John Wroth mentioned in 1346 may have been an earlier member, seem to have held it. In 1393 the prior of the New Hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate brought actions of intrusion (presumably for disseisin of rent, but the actions were never prosecuted) against William Wroth, Baldwin Radyngton, knight, and his wife Maud, Thomas Veel, John Acton, clerk, and Paul Midylton, into his free tenement in the parish. William Wroth held the property, described as an inn (hospitium) called le Bullehed with 2 shops in Cheapside in this parish, on his death in 1408; it was valued at £5 p.a. William Wroth his son and heir, born 1389, had been baptised in the parish church; William Troutbek, esquire, held the property during his minority, and later granted it to William Wroth and Averia his wife in tail. William Wroth the younger died in 1450, when the Bull Head and its two shops were valued at £6. 13s. 4d. p.a. John Wroth was his son and heir. In 1459 John Wrothe, esquire, of Enfield (Mdx.) and his wife Elizabeth granted to John Worsop, citizen and draper, two messuages, one called le Bolehede, one shop annexed, houses, cellar(s), and solar(s) in Cheapside in this parish. The property lay between 11 to the W. and 104/35 to the E., and extended from Cheapside to the S. to the tenement of Thomas Charleton, Knight, probably in St. Lawrence Jewry parish, to the N. It measured in length N.-S. 167 ft. 7 in. (51.08 m.), and in width at the Cheapside frontage 22 ft. 2 in. (6.76 m.); at a distance of 68 ft. (20.73 m.) from the street it was 21 ft. 1 in. (6.43 m.) wide, and at the N. end, 13 ft. 10 in. (4.22 m.). The deed included a warranty against Westminster Abbey, which is not otherwise known to have had an interest in the property. (fn. 5)

John Worsop granted these properties to John Stodeley and John Asshewelle, citizens, in 1460; in 1477 John Asshwell (John Stodeley having died) granted them to Joan Worsop of London, widow, Thomas Morton and Henry Sharp, clerks, William Huddesfeld, John Beveyn, and Geoffrey Downes, gentlemen, Henry Dawvers, mercer, Robert Spayne, scrivener (scriptor), and Thomas Kyppyng, draper, citizens, and their heirs and assigns for ever. These two transactions were probably part of a longer series, by which the property was conveyed to the church of All Hallows Honey Lane for a chantry. The return of 1546 names Thomas Trumpington, John Worsopp, and John Don as the founders; that of 1548 mentions Thomas Trompington, John Downe, and Henry Edelmeton, but the last of these actually gave land in the parish of St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street. A book of chantry rents c. 1619 gives the dates of Trompington's and Downe's wills as 1428-9 and 1481-3. (fn. 6)

The property was charged with several quit-rents, of which those belonging to religious houses passed to the Crown at the Dissolution. In the 1530s these rents were £4. 1s. 8d. to the hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate, (fn. 7) £1. 5s. to Ramsey Abbey (Hunts.), (fn. 8) and £2 to the church of 'Sawfeld' in Northumberland; the last mentioned was said in 1546 to be paid to the manor of the Savoy. (fn. 9) The origins of the last two rents are not known. Rents of 6s. 8d. and 8s. were paid to St. Bartholomew's Priory and to Newark Priory, owners of 11 to the W. and 104/35 to the E. respectively, in the first case for a watercourse and in the second apparently for a door into Newark Priory's yard. (fn. 10) In 1536 the parish let the Bull Head to George Barnes, alderman, for a term of years at £15. rent. The charges for the chantry, amounting to £7. 13s. 10d. p.a. in all, were borne jointly with a property in the parish of St. James Garlickhithe, and the combined annual value of the two after all expenses excluding repairs was £17. 1s. 8d. Barnes appears to have been resident here, probably with John Marre, in 1541; in 1544, however, Barnes, was noted in the subsidy list for this parish, but not assessed because he was charged under Broad Sreet ward. This probably indicates that he was not resident in 12 by that time. George Barnes alias Baron, alderman, acquired 11 in 1544, and in December 1548, with Henry Becher, haberdasher, bought 12, still held by Barnes on lease but now in the occupation of John Marre and Henry Hayes, from the Crown for £224. All the quit-rents were said to be discharged except for the 6s. 8d. payable to Barnes as owner of 11, but the 8s. payable to the owner of 104/35 was still being paid in the 17th century. (fn. 11) For the later history of 12, see under 11/11-12.